THE GREEN ENTRANCE TO THE HAGUE

Serving as a new gateway to the city through the connection of various green spaces and public programs, The Green Entrance is DELVA Landscape Architects’ masterplan for a historic district of The Hague. Given The Hague’s future inner-city densification, which involves the creation of 50,000 new houses, the Dutch firm’s aim is to aid these developments through sustainable and green urban strategies, manifested “through an integral approach between landscape design, cultural heritage, mobility, programming and technology.”

Commenting on the project’s primary function, the architects state: “’The Green Entrance’ connects areas that have been isolated over the years. It starts in the spacious and open ‘City Hall' that connects to the train station and continues to the ‘Koningin Julianaplein’. No narrow doors or gates, but a wide view over the green and lively surrounding public space.”

The master plan ties together four distinct areas surrounding the Central Innovation District: the ‘Koningin Julianaplein’ (Queen Juliana Square), the ‘Koekamp’ (cow camp), the ‘Koninklijk Stadspark’ (Royal City Park) and the ‘Malieveld’ (Malie Field).

While departing the train station in Koningin Julianaplein, visitors will be greeted with a large public green square at the base of the station. Integrated green dunes will link the square with the adjacent park, while there are also 8,500 spaces of underground parking for those arriving by bicycle. Key to the public square is a pavilion, located strategically on the northeast corner to maximize solar gain with its terrace.

Then, in the surrounding areas of the Koekamp and the forested park known as the Haagse Bos, paths for bicyclists and pedestrians will link the areas and an overhead bridge will restore the royal axis of ‘Huis ten Bosch’ and ‘Paleis Noordeinde’.

DELVA has also introduced the Malie Sports Track to the existing open Malie Field, catering to a number of outdoor sports. Inspired by a famous De Stijl work of Piet Mondiraan, the multicolored track also injects public art into the program, while using dynamic lighting that responds to user interaction and movement within the space.

A subproject of ‘City Entrances’ program, The Green Entrance is to be completed in incremental phases, beginning with the Koningin Julianaplein in 2019. This will be well in time for the addition of the 50,000 houses as part of The Hague’s larger densification plan, which is to be achieved by 2025.