MTD landscape architects is a design agency for the outdoor space in the broadest sense. The office is working on plans for both the rural and urban areas; on various scales. The projects concern urban tasks such as squares, streets, urban development and more landscape oriented tasks such as parks, estates, commercial landscapes and infrastructure projects. More often, the assignments increasingly concern innovative, strategic plans, in which coalitions are forged between multiple commissioning parties.
Clients are governments, developers, companies, institutions and individuals.
MTD is an agency with a history. In 1954 Pieter Buys established himself as a landscaping architect in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. In the first few years there was a partnership which included Hans Warnau and Bob van der Vliet at the agency Buys & Van der Vliet. In 1998 the agency was continued by Frank Meijer, Han Thijssen and Ruud Dubbeld under the banner of MTD landschapsarchitecten. The agency is very aware of its heritage.
The design style over the years can be described as robust, clear, inevitable and timeless, in which the general outline is confirmed by way of carefully elaborated details; designs are functional and have a wealth of unexpected usage possibilities. MTD aspires for designs which lead to a flexible, surprising and almost unsuspecting usage. The ‘genius loci’, the characteristic spatial features and history of the development of a place, make up an essential source of inspiration; this provides the plans with a sustainable base and strong place-related identity.
The design style over the years can be described as robust, clear, inevitable and timeless
Sustainability plays a decisive role within the firm’s designs. In the first instance, it concerns strengthening the green qualities of the public space and roof landscapes. But it also concerns shaping climate adaptive measures, where these are related to planting and water management.
The agency consists of an interdisciplinary composition; urban planners, landscape architects, ecologists, spatial designers, communication experts and civil and cultural technicians work together in compact teams. Choice of materials, technical details and budgeting play an important role from the start of each project; this is how integral and achievable plans are created. This is how market-oriented and feasible plans arise. We work with a clear assignment formulation as a starting point and a clear, broadly supported vision as the end result.
The agency has extensive experience with participatory and interactive communication processes and with the use of social media within these processes. The planning process is conceived as an organic process; local knowledge and expertise of residents, entrepreneurs, stakeholders and municipal experts are deployed at an early stage of the planning process, thus creating broad support for the plans.
The organization and working methods of the office guarantee continuity, development, innovation and quality of the plans and advice through, among other things, an internal quality system (based on NEN-ISO 9001) that is laid down in the MTD landscape architects Operational Management Manual. With regard to organization, this means a structure and composition of the office, within which tasks, responsibilities and qualifications of employees are clearly defined. Within projects, this means, among other things, that final responsibility always rests with a project leader and that, depending on the scale, scope and complexity of the assignment, work is carried out in a compact, interdisciplinary project team.
MTD landscape architects has a clear vision for the future of the agency. The development of a young and dynamic team of independent consultants, trained on the basis of the agency’s traditions. In this, the agency aspires to contribute to a spatial environment which is beautiful and sustainable, in which people can live comfortably and which is resilient to the changes and challenges of the future.
The initial strategic goal of the redevelopplan was to relocate the parking from the present Market square to the direct vicinity of the shopping area. By way of shortcuts, so-called alleyways, those new parking lots were directly linked to the city centre. The Market square is kept free from unnecessary obstacles, to facilitate the weekly market and various events. Activities that have an important meaning for Schijndel and the whole region. The second important goal of the redevelopplan is to enhance the rural and villager identity of Schijndel. The glass farmhouse is a contemporary addition and refers to the agricultural character of the village and provides space to new commercial program on the Market. It’s a scale model of a typical Schijndel farmhouse enlarged 1.8 times. The design of the farm yard, by MTD, enhances this by an also oversized scale.
