Kettingplein
Ghent
Location | Ghent, Belgium
Year | 2017 - 2018
Client | Municipality of Ghent
Collaboration | OMGEVING
Status | Preliminary design
Supported by the local community DE URBANISTEN and OMGEVING proposed to significantly reduce the amount of hard surface and to create a central green square where the community can relax and meet. The same green square will also collect, store, and reuse the rainwater that falls on the surrounding area.
Today, the Kettingplein is an underused square in the centre of a small neighbourhood in Ghent. The city government wants to improve the quality of the public space, to simultaneously create a place where people want to linger and to make the district more climate-adaptive. Supported by the local community we have proposed to significantly reduce the amount of hard surface and to create a central green square where the community can relax and meet. The same green square will also collect, store, and reuse the rainwater that falls on the surrounding area.
Today, the Kettingplein is an underused square in the centre of a small neighbourhood in Ghent. The city government wants to improve the quality of the public space, to simultaneously create a place where people want to linger and to make the district more climate-adaptive. Supported by the local community we have proposed to significantly reduce the amount of hard surface and to create a central green square where the community can relax and meet. The same green square will also collect, store, and reuse the rainwater that falls on the surrounding area.
Rainwater from the adjacent roads and roofs will be transported to the green square via gutters. Some of the water shall be stored in a large bowl-shaped raingarden where it will infiltrate the ground and be soaked up by the plants. A larger volume of water will be contained underneath a path through the garden. A total volume of 100 m3 will be managed in Kettingplein.
We designed the place as an intimate, green living room for the neighbourhood, keeping the square free of cars. The green spaces with their depressions and varied slopes will be covered with a rich diversity of plants that suit the wet and dry conditions of the raingarden. Existing and additional trees will provide shade on the square. The central path crossing the raingarden is both a connection for pedestrians and cyclists, and a place for the community to meet and linger. Some of the edges are designed as seating elements. Small features connect the path with its underground water storage, allowing water to drain through. The design has been approved and will be realized in 2019.
More info to be found on this website of the municipality of Ghent.
