BK Park
Transforming the TU Delft's Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment's parking area into a sustainable and green space.
The outdoor space of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment was previously entirely paved, except for nine cherry trees lined up between the parked cars in the east car park. These trees predated the Faculty’s relocation to the building but couldn’t withstand the parking pressure and had to be relocated or removed. Due to replanting obligations, nine new trees had to be planted. How to ensure healthy growing conditions in this hot and dry parking lot?
Author
Urban Ecology Design Lab
Location
Delft, the Netherlands
TU Delft Team
Dr. Ir. Nico Tillie
Ir. Rosa de Wolf
René Hoonhout
ON SITE ECOCampus students ’22-23′
Charlotte Delobbe
Eline Holtes
Fabian Schwegman
Harini Sivakumar
Ilse Trim
Janine Schmeitz
Jing Spaaij
Julius Knoester
Maxime Lugtenburg
Pia Bosveld
Pleun te Braake
Sammy Lei
Stef de Horde
Wout de Joode
Yiwen Ji
Tree species suited for dry and sunny conditions were chosen, ideal for the hot environment of the parking space. Instead of replanting them at the original location, the new trees were scattered around the site, creating a green view from the Espresso Bar and the terrace around the ‘Bouwpub’, despite only having nine trees without losing any parking spaces. The quality of the growing site was significantly enhanced before planting: each tree now has underground space equivalent to three parking spaces for its root system.
The design of the tree beds, the planted areas around the trees, emerged from the ECOCampus ON-SITE elective course taught at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. Each tree bed has unique characteristics and vegetation types matched to the tree species, yet unified by several fixed plant species. One standout tree bed is that of Zelkova serrata, designed by students following the principles of a Japanese Zen garden, reflecting the tree’s origins.
Additional ECOCampus ON-SITE projects around the site include a dune border along the Bouwpub and a herb and façade garden along the faculty building.
We hope to continue this greening in the near future.
