A future-resistant public space for the villages of Oudeschild and De Koog on Texel

Robustness is important, because the weather and the wind are inexorable on Texel. That calls for special attention in the design. The villages have a strong identity of their own, that can be seen in our proposals. After making a thorough inventory of the area and following a unique participation trajectory that we have developed together with the local authority, we have gained a clear picture of the unique properties and wishes of each village.

Oudeschild lies on the shore of the Waddenzee and has a rich history of shipping. That can be seen in the village and landscape structure and the cultural heritage, much of which can be seen in Museum Kaaps Skil. De Koog, on the west side of Texel, is strongly profiled as a dune village on the North Sea coast. That atmosphere of dune and beach pervades everything. It can be seen in the landscape in the differences in elevation, the vegetation and the urban layout and architecture. People spend a weekend or a few days there for the beach, sea and entertainment.

Oudeschild is a relatively peaceful residential village with a rich history and is particularly popular with day tourists. In the design we created a link between the two villages at island level, with attention for both the similarities and the differences. We drew up design principles based on less asphalt and more space for greenery, cyclists and pedestrians. The designs are characterised by the application of paving stones with the emphasis on clinker bricks, greenery and porosity: reddish-brown clinkers for Oudeschild and yellowish-brown ones for De Koog.

We designed different elements for each village. In the process we strengthen the unique qualities of both villages and their identity. In Oudeschild we designed accents or details on sites of historical value, such as a resting place beside the Skillepad with distant views of the Hoge Berg. The choice of vegetation is based on the polders and clay soil of the surrounding landscape. In De Koog, on the other hand, there is plenty of sandy ground. We took advantage of this to plant Scots pines which thrive in the dune area. In addition, we designed generous and recognisable links for cyclists and pedestrians between the dune/beach area and the village of De Koog.

We have converted the assortment of proposals for the Texel local authority into sample cards and design plans. We identified three main types of street in the plan of De Koog: main streets, side streets and parallel streets. In Oudeschild we find main streets, side streets and back streets. We devised design principles for each type of street that fit on a sample card. We also drew up a design plan for six streets in De Koog and four in Oudeschild. This number will be expanded in the future, taking the sample cards as a guideline.