Geestwater Lisse Masterplan | Lisse, The Netherlands | 2021

Landscape Architects: DELVA Landscape Architecture & Urbanism
Architects: Houben / van Mierlo architecten
Client: Amvest Vastgoed B.V.
Renderings by Vivid Vision
Plans and Diagrams Courtesy of the Architects

The designing is a spectacular residential and nature development area in Lisse Geestwater. With a high-quality plan for 450 dwellings in the polder, the architects are using the landscape as a spatial and economic basis to build responsibly in nature and creating a new type of nature-conscious development in the outlying area.
Where normally in a polder a layer of soil is applied and houses are placed on top of it, with Geestwater the architects have been able to drastically reduce the addition of soil. The architects have placed the houses on mounds, therefore creating a water-rich and pleasing landscape around them, that responds to the various tasks of nature development, the water issue and the creation of a pleasant living environment.

With Geestwater the architects are aiming for a water-rich residential landscape that will greatly enhance the current natural value of the existing polder and transform the area into an accessible and unique landscape experience. With intimate residential clusters equipped with smaller private plots and built-up parking facilities, the architects create ample space for a vast water landscape with green-blue foothills that extend to all corners of the plan.

At the same time, the architects reduce costs by limiting road infrastructure, delayed drainage of rainwater (so that no gullies or sewers need to be provided) and providing a much smaller area of pre-loading and foundations. In this way, the architects create the same returns as a traditional Vinex development, but with a much more intimate living quality, fewer cars and direct access to a 12-hectare water landscape. The architects give nature as much space as possible in Geestwater.

The soil types, surface water, natural banks, wetlands, mixed forests and flower meadows form the puzzle pieces of a natural and self-sustaining landscape. New habitats are created for specific species of butterflies, amphibians, and a rich arsenal of birds. In this way, the architects are turning Geestwater - now an empty and inaccessible polder - into a special landscape where people can enjoy living and nature.