Connection Park Ede

How to connect two residential districts with one another when they are separated by a busy road? The question is answered in Ede by building a shopping centre and a park on top of that road and allowing it to pass beneath them. That, in a nutshell, is the ambition of 'New Country Estate'. New Country Estate is the present-day pendant to the neighbouring historical country estate of Kernhem.

The main building of New Country Estate, a large shopping centre combined with social amenities and apartments, is situated on a 4-metre artificial hill above the road. It is surrounded by a garden-like park with grassy slopes, meandering paths, flowering trees and shrubs, a playing field and a pond. Steps lead to observation points at the top of the hill. The park is framed with beech hedges and the entrances to the park are marked by monumental gateways. New Country Estate is also an experience for the motorist: symbolic gates mark the point where the road passes beneath the complex, and the road is flanked with rhododendrons.

A special aspect of the project, which is connected with the Veluwe region via the remains of old beech-lined lanes, is the fauna. Bats use these lanes as routes in their search for waterside food in the built-up area. The old trees are preserved and new tree rows will be planted to protect the bats. New bodies of water will also be created with environmentally friendly banks. The light fittings avoid disturbing the bats in the tops of the trees.

A special aspect of the project, which is connected with the Veluwe region via the remains of old beech-lined lanes, is the fauna. Bats use these lanes as routes in their search for waterside food in the built-up area. The old trees are preserved and new tree rows will be planted to protect the bats. New bodies of water will also be created with environmentally friendly banks. The light fittings avoid disturbing the bats in the tops of the trees.