Van Beuningenplein

Three design firms transformed Van Beuningenplein – a public square in Amsterdam West – into a communal living room for the neighbourhood.

To give the area around Van Beuningenplein a friendlier and greener character, the municipality opted for a drastic reduction in kerbside parking space and the construction of underground parking garages as an alternative. One of these garages was to be situated beneath Van Beuningenplein. The entire square had to be excavated to accommodate the garage.

‘It was my job to come up with a design that had the approval of the people living in the neighbourhood,’ says Rob van Dijk of Dijk&co. ‘We nearly doubled the total surface covered by plants.’

Concrete won the pitch for the buildings that were needed on the square. ‘Rather than looking at the three pavilions as autonomous structures, we approached the square as a space with various rooms, three of which we framed with steel beams,’ says Concrete partner Erik-Jan Vermeulen.

To realize playing courts with the exact specifications required, van Dijk brought design and engineering agency Carve on board. Meetings with neighbourhood residents had clearly shown a need for two playing courts. One of the two became a basketball court; the adjacent field is equipped with a number of low goals and three blue circles. The playground for little children is a rolling blue landscape with an installation high off the ground.