Stationsomgeving Lier - Field
A forgotten corner at the back of the station becomes a new urban district. Height accents rise at the station and step down towards the existing houses, while a small city square, cafés and shops create a new urban front and a second entrance.
At Lier station sits an “unfinished” piece of the city: the back of the station and the back of a row of houses, on a former industrial plot left behind when running it became too difficult. Beneath it flows the Boomlaarloop, a stream that was long ago piped underground. The masterplan and landscape design by a2o-field turn this overlooked corner into a new urban district. It took many iterations with the owners and the city to find the right programme and the right massing, but the principles have stayed the same throughout.
The first is to reopen the Boomlaarloop and give the stream room, creating a new city park. It is a natural park with water and fundamental greenery, a place to experience and explore, with space for children to play. To make room for the park and for public space, the plan builds upwards: height accents stand at the station and step down towards the existing rows of houses. At the station itself, a new urban front emerges, with a small city square, additional urban functions such as cafés and shops, and room to develop the back of the station into a second entrance.
The plan also breaks with the classic perimeter block. Instead, it uses free-standing, all-sided buildings that let space and nature flow between them, and even beneath them, so there is no clear front or back. The area is car-free: cars, including those of visitors, are directed straight to underground parking, leaving the surface to pedestrians and cyclists, with generous, luxuriously finished bicycle storage at every residential block. Part of the park lies above underground space, a technical challenge with a clear goal: you should never notice it. For this, a new way of building roof gardens was developed, with strong water retention and the capacity to support large trees.
