Hilversum Station Area

Hilversum, NL

What to do when you want to repair the city?

Hilversum

Station area

Photo Stadsarchief Hilversum

The area between Hilversum centre and its station was created in 1874, when the first station was built some distance from the heart of the village. In the following decades, a good link between the station and the centre never materialised. In the 1970s, the construction of the Schapenkamp, a busy road through the centre, made the division even stronger.

Commissioned by Hilversum city council, De Zwarte Hond and OKRA Landscape architects drew up an urban development plan that reconnects the station area with the historic centre and brings the surrounding neighbourhood to life.

Plan of the area

Continuation of urban fabric

Green public areas

Mix of functions

This urban development plan heals the scars of the past

The design carefully extends the qualities of the historic centre up to the station. It reintegrates the station area and the eastern part of Hilversum with the city centre. It responds to the special characteristics of Hilversum: the human scale, the green space, lively streets, the generously sized pedestrian areas and the network of public squares and narrow alleys.

Hilversum Station Area

At the end of the 19th century, Hilversum was connected to the rail network. At that time, the tracks were laid at a certain distance from the town. The growth that followed was partly absorbed by the intermediate area. The buildings followed development structures that did not logically link up with the fabric of the existing village. Opening up a new road in the 1970s – the Schapenkamp – further deteriorated the spatial relationship between station and centre. This has had major consequences for the orientation of visitors to Hilversum to this day.

The new urban development plan is the missing puzzle piece that connects the station with the centre. The qualities of the historic centre of Hilversum are the inspiration for this: green areas, lively streets and plenty of space for cyclists, pedestrians and greenery. The urban fabric continues naturally towards the station and new building volumes are created within contours that match the size and scale of the centre. By continuing the centre up to the station, the east side of Hilversum will also become a part of it.