24.05.2017
Today, the International Parking Institute (IPI) has awarded the underground parking garage Kustwerk Katwijk with a top award in the category for Architectural Achievement in the 2017 Awards of Excellence competition in New Orleans. This is the top honor chosen in that category and in the overall competition. Every year since 1982, the IPI Awards of Excellence competition recognizes world-class examples of parking design and program innovation.
Coastal defences and waterworks are the epitome of Dutch engineering expertise. Besides the famous Delta Works, consisting of movable dams and locks, dunes protect the majority of the Dutch coastline from the sea. To protect the economic heart of the Netherlands against flooding, a coastal reinforcement was designed and constructed at the Dutch town of Katwijk. The coastal defence itself consists of a so-called “dike in dune” construction. This dike is covered and reinforced by a seaward natural dune landscape. A unique aspect of the project is the construction of an underground parking garage, situated behind the new dike and located underneath the dune landscape, hidden from view.
‘We are delighted with this recognition and are very pleased that the jury is particularly impressed with our successful transformation of a parking garage into a public space, which local residents and tourists like to visit.’
Commissioned by the city of Katwijk, Royal HaskoningDHV drafted the architectural design of the underground parking garage and translated this into a thorough master plan. Based on this master plan, Ballast Nedam and ZJA Zwarts & Jansma Architects drafted the integral design (architectural, functional, structural and building services) for the realization of the parking garage. Special attention was given to the integration and materialisation of the entrances in the dune landscape, as one of the main principles of the architectural masterplan and the public domain, which was designed by OKRA Landscape Architects. Arcadis was responsible for the coastal reinforcement.
Due to the unique combination of coastal reinforcement, an underground parking garage and a recreational dune landscape, Kustwerk Katwijk has won several awards including the Dutch Best Building of the year award 2016, Falco Award 2015, Rijnlandse Architectuur Prijs 2015, Prix d'Excellence 2016 Nederland, WAN Infrastructure Award 2016 and the German Design Award 2017. The project was also nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2017.
Photographs: Raoul Suermondt and Dirk Verwoerd
