Linking and mediating the monumental building with the surrounding ecological park.

The garden of the Provincial House in Utrecht Rijnsweerd, formerly the VSB headquarters, borders the Bloeiendael ecological park.
The basis for the garden design was to raise the plot so that the parking garage beneath the building presents a 1.4 metre high plinth in a green space. Above a flowering layer of herbaceous plants is a forest of birches, their grid serving to counter the large building. The building’s plinth, clad as it is in tiles, the colour of anthracite with imprints of birch twigs. One of the paths through the ecological park has been extended into the birch forest. From here it crosses a 200 metre long buxus garden using a poetic steel garden bridge with an incorporated bench. The reptilian bridge and a variety of unsubtle red sandstone blocks put the sleek, discreet bank building into perspective.
Client
Verenigde Spaar Bank (VSB)
Partners
Waardenburg and Aronsohn raadgevende ingenieurs b.v.
Imagery
© Jannes Linders