Welcome to BUUR

A well-known African saying that illustrates a universal value: that as a community, we are responsible for creating a pleasant, healthy living environment for our future generations.

According to the UN, 56% of the world population currently lives in urban areas. Most European cities are expected to cover greater areas than in the past, and cities will have to increasingly recognise the importance of optimising how their public space is both designed and used. We see that cities are increasingly embracing innovation and novel technologies and, thanks to the concentration of people, ideas and resources, they are leading the way towards solutions to global challenges beyond their own boundaries.

DE EASTERN EDGE OF ANTWERP

DE NIEUWE RAND

De Nieuwe Rand is a project that aims to improve mobility, quality of life and climate friendliness in the eastern edge of Antwerp. The alternatives study note identifies 3 ambitions: Vibrant Rand, Accessible Rand and Climate-Resilient Rand. The Lively Edge stands for a Rand with high quality of life and attractiveness. The Accessible Edge builds on the modal shift of the Route Plan. And the Climate-Resilient Rand puts climate mitigation and adaptation first in order to strengthen the open space network in the Rand (up to the anti-tank canal). There are some new angles to this: How can the project be carbon neutral? Can the project be energy-neutral?

SEINE – SCHELDT

Seine-Scheldt will connect the Seine basin to the Scheldt basin by means of an efficient route for shipping. The Lys is being developed into a European main navigable waterway for vessels up to 4,500 tons (CEMT class Vb), which means adapting the tonnage of the waterway. This will require deepening the fairway, widening a number of bends and providing passing lanes as well as adapting the lock complexes. The overall Seine-Scheldt project has already been examined for its environmental impact. This was done in the plan-MER Continued study Seine-Scheldt and the project-MER for the deepening and local widening of the Lys, the Grensleie and the Afleidingskanaal.

Photo © De Vlaamse Waterweg nv

ENERGY IN THE FLEMISCH LANDSCAPE

The development of a sustainable energy landscape can be seized as an opportunity to form a new layer in the landscape that can reorder, bring meaning and structure back, or increase the readability of an area. It is also an opportunity to bring back quality to a landscape. A better integration of renewable energy in the landscape can help to ensure that these new landscape elements are more readily accepted by society. Landscape thus becomes the negotiator between the new energy infrastructure and the receiving space in which it seeks a place. This study explores the opportunities of solar and wind energy for landscape development, identity and perception, by visualizing the impact of solar and wind energy within the context of the diversity and identity of landscape types in Flanders.

WATER-LAND SCHAP PROGRAM

The goal of the Water-Land-Schap program is to solve problems with water in rural areas in an interrelated way, in close cooperation with users of the area such as farmers and businesses, residents and landscape managers.

The intended output of the program is stronger agriculture, sustainable water resources, good water quality, collection of excess water both in built-up areas and natural systems and a stronger landscape in the area. In doing so, the program aims to take into account the additional stress that climate change will put on the water system. To this end, 14 local coalitions are developing various demonstration measures in each of their project areas.

BRUSSELS’ NETWORK OPEN SPACE

The world faces urgent challenges in the areas of climate, biodiversity, health and a more balanced distribution of wealth. Urban cores such as the Brussels metropolitan area are in the eye of the storm, but also play a pioneering role in providing solutions. The expansion and connection of open spaces is rightly central to the most recent policy documents, as a future-oriented solution that connects nature, people and society.

Together with five regional authorities, we support the construction of a unique interregional network of open spaces in and around Brussels, aimed at strengthening ecosystem services, green infrastructure and nature-based solutions.

TRAX PARK ROESELARE

The construction of the TRAX park is a pilot project within a global urban renewal project for the northern station area, which uses a former industrial area next to the tracks as a connecting landscape between the center and neighborhoods behind the railroad bundle.

The park forms the outdoor space of the TRAX building, a former railroad depot that was converted into a multipurpose and multifunctional place for socio-cultural associations. The park not only adds value to the programming in the building, it also offers a structural alternative to the temporary pop-up park at the station. The design proposes a harmonious whole of smaller, secure places, a green open zone that can be used either as a sunbathing area or as a festival area, a skate zone and play and experience elements.

ECO-QUARTIER CORONMEUSE

In Coronmeuse in Liège, we conceived the master plan and landscape design for this new eco-neighbourhood with 1,200 residential housing units and 22ha of public space, parcs, urban nature and residential private and shared gardens. The residential area will be completely car-free and will give priority to the soft road user. The existing car routes along the quays, for example, will be transformed into cycling and walking boulevards.

We also developed the newly introduced urban planning tool ZEC (Zone d’Enjeu Communal), a first for Wallonia.

DEVELOPING OF A HIGH-PERFORMANCE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

ARENDBERG MASTER PLAN

The Arenberg master plan, drawn up in 2008, came to an end after 10 years. The plan needs to be updated to strengthen the campus and the valley and respond to the challenges concerning water, landscape and greenery, heritage, buildings, energy and mobility.

The development of a high-performance university campus, integrated in the city and qualitatively embedded in a valuable and resilient valley area forms the main ambition. Strengthening the green-blue vein combines a climate-robust and adaptive river valley with the development of a varied ecological park landscape.

Contact our recruiters

Are you curious about working at Sweco? Or are you full of questions that haven’t yet been answered? Please contact one of our recruiters. They’ll be happy to help you further and proactively discuss with you.

Marlies Opsommere

Talent Partner Recruitment

Evelien Neerinckx