Station Forecourt Zwolle

PosadMaxwan, an urban design firm from The Hague, The Netherlands, has designed the unique main entrance to the underground bicycle parking area located beneath the city of Zwolle’s train station square. For the first time ever, the greenery of a station square has been extended to meet up with an underground parking garage, creating a seamless connection between the indoors and the outdoors. Cyclists are guided down the ramps by a sloping green garden with plants that change with the seasons.

Zwolle is known as a city with an abundance of bicycles and so accessibility for cyclists is a high priority. In 2018, the city decided to redesign the train station square to allow travelers to bike to and from the station as comfortably as possible. From the beginning of the design process of the underground bicycle parking, our goal was to implement natural elements into the entrance areas on the station square. We figured that the most logical way to create a natural feel would be to extend the greenery from the station square to the underground parking garage.

This resulted in a unique entrance that has been integrated into the total design of the square. The spacious and green entrance allows plenty of daylight to reach the underground level and creates an open and safe feeling for cyclists. At a second entrance, a water wall has been created along the stairs that shows how rainwater collected from the square is being stored. The water that cascades down the wall is collected and stored in a circular water system that can be used for the irrigation of the sloping garden during dry periods.

At PosadMaxwan, we always try to look beyond the conventional ways of reorganizing public spaces because we believe that as urban designers, we can contribute to creating more beautiful and liveable cities. The innovative design in Zwolle allows anyone to experience nature in the city during an ordinary daily routine like parking a bike – even while underground!

Lead Architect: Rients Dijkstra
Project Leader, Urban Designer: Rene Heijne
Urban Designer: Froukje Taconis
Landscape And Urban Designer: Elena Chevtchenko
Underground Bike Parking: Kraaijvanger Architects