Keldonk village centre

Keldonk is a church village with more than 1,000 inhabitants in the municipality of Veghel. Following the structure plan for Keldonk made by our office in 2003, the village centre was refurbished in 2005. The people of Keldonk have been closely involved in the planning and design of the centre. They gave preference to the approach made by our office, which fitted the rural character of the village more than an existing plan.

The design for the refurbishment creates a rural, informal environment. Traffic space in the centre will be converted back to public spaces. Trees have been given more space, both above and below ground. The gardens of the church and the pastorate, and the local café have also been redesigned. At the expense of the municipality hedges have been planted on thresholds between gardens and the public spaces. The renovation plan has been kept as rural as possible: clay pavers and avenue trees. For the high street we have worked out a layout that reduces the speed of traffic without introducing complex speed reduction measures and letting cars and cyclists share the same traffic space.

The project enhances the rural character of the village with the use of natural materials, subtle detailing, robust avenue planting, and a specially designed light pole, with a romantic and yet contemporary look.