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Reaping the benefits

1. Impact – changing the paradigm

In the words of John ten Pas, representative of the Municipality of Nijkerk: ‘the participation of students on the ‘Larenstein’ degree course gave De Bogen a daring and unusual design that has earned it a strong national reputation. Residents of De Bogen enjoy living in a unique part of Nijkerk and indeed The Netherlands!’

He goes on to say that he and his colleagues are convinced that the quality and nature of the design has contributed to its success with home-buyers and tenants alike. John ten Pas notes that re-selling houses is easy at De Bogen, especially as trees and shrubs reach maturity.

2. Social responsibility & commercial sense

The children had a lot of fun taking part, and saw some of their ideas incorporated in the design. The vocational students gained valuable experience, not just on the practical planting and maintenance, but also in terms of interacting with the residents.
The degree students took away with them useful additions to their portfolios to begin their professional careers (especially since the development has been so successful). The direct involvement of plant nurseries has resulted in a rich variety of plant material being used, something which has been particularly noted in feedback from residents.

3. Practical implementation

De Bogen is not a no-expense-spared show piece. The project came in on budget, helped by some practical decisions during implementation. In terms of maintenance, the story is the same. John ten Pas comments: ‘in most areas with experimental planting, only a few species don’t live up to our expectations. So far, maintenance costs are no higher’. With the establishment of some perennials, weeds have been problematic, and efforts are on-going to resolve these. Project personnel are confident of success in this.


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Pushing the envelope The innovative approach included the involvement from the bottom up of a wide range of student groups, including degree-level, vocational and special needs groups, thereby unlocking the creative potential of key elements in the community. Private landscape practices, partnering with student groups from the ‘Larenstein’ International Agriculture College worked with the municipality of Nijkerk to design the public space of the ‘De Bogen’ (The Arch) housing development. One of the key starting points of this was that it was to put green space at the centre of the design philosophy. Students from Groenhorst College, a vocational training college for horticulture, took part in planting and maintenance on the site. Eight horticultural nurseries were brought into the project to help with trialling new plants and planting combinations. Water (and water management) is also an essential part of the design, with the development taking place around thirty thousand square metres of pre-existing water. In fact, water has been incorporated as one of the design themes for the development.
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Reaping the benefits 1. Impact – changing the paradigm In the words of John ten Pas, representative of the Municipality of Nijkerk: ‘the participation of students on the ‘Larenstein’ degree course gave De Bogen a daring and unusual design that has earned it a strong national reputation. Residents of De Bogen enjoy living in a unique part of Nijkerk and indeed The Netherlands!’ He goes on to say that he and his colleagues are convinced that the quality and nature of the design has contributed to its success with home-buyers and tenants alike. John ten Pas notes that re-selling houses is easy at De Bogen, especially as trees and shrubs reach maturity. 2. Social responsibility & commercial sense The children had a lot of fun taking part, and saw some of their ideas incorporated in the design. The vocational students gained valuable experience, not just on the practical planting and maintenance, but also in terms of interacting with the residents. The degree students took away with them useful additions to their portfolios to begin their professional careers (especially since the development has been so successful). The direct involvement of plant nurseries has resulted in a rich variety of plant material being used, something which has been particularly noted in feedback from residents. 3. Practical implementation De Bogen is not a no-expense-spared show piece. The project came in on budget, helped by some practical decisions during implementation. In terms of maintenance, the story is the same. John ten Pas comments: ‘in most areas with experimental planting, only a few species don’t live up to our expectations. So far, maintenance costs are no higher’. With the establishment of some perennials, weeds have been problematic, and efforts are on-going to resolve these. Project personnel are confident of success in this.
The De Bogen experience, the shape of things to come? John ten Pas and his team are already planning to take a similar approach with the development of their next housing project ‘De Terrassen’. Other Dutch municipalities are considering a similar approach following results in Nijkerk. For example, the municipality of Almere, a district with 175 000 residents, is discussing bringing in practical students from a local horticultural college to help with planting and maintenance. The ‘Larenstein’ International Agriculture College is receiving regular invitations to contribute to the design of new housing developments.