A Wilder Rose Garden . Huis van Roosendaal . The Netherlands
Studio Mars was asked, together with Andrew van Egmond, to design a courtyard for the new Roosendaal city office.
The Huis van Roosendaal will be an open, inviting and energy-neutral building for the employees and residents of the city.
Design courtyard and rooftop gardens in collaboration with: "Studio Mars, Donald Marskamp."
Technical support by: Gert-Jan Lith
Upcycling lighting object collaboration with: "De Licht Vormgevers."
Architect building:
Hans van Heeswijk Architecten
Pictures
Donald Marskamp & Andrew van Egmond
Lighting
De Lichtvormegvers
Green contractor:
Donkergroen
Technical support
Gert-Jan Lith
A successful design starts with a compelling storyline. For this project, we conducted historical research on the site of the city office to uncover the origins of the name Roosedaal, a city in the southern part of The Netherlands. We found two narratives explaining the name.
One interpretation is Roosendaal, meaning "the valley of roses," with the rose symbolizing purity and associated with Mother Maria. This name was given by a group of monks who settled in the area.
The second story refers to Roosendaal as "the valley of sedges," also known as Rissen, derived from Old Dutch. This valley was formed between two river dunes.
Our design storyline draws from these two accounts. We conceptualized the garden as Rose Garden 2.0, celebrating the ornamental beauty of roses alongside the natural grasses characteristic of the marshlands from which Roosendaal emerged.
Aluminum profile reused out of old building facade
Reused concrete curb stone beams
Reused car parking tiles
This garden is not only an updated rose garden but also serves as a model for designing outdoor spaces in a changing world, addressing several climate and biodiversity challenges.
The primary goal of renovating the building and its surrounding areas is to minimize environmental impact and provide Roosendaal’s citizens with a carbon-neutral city office.
In our garden design, we developed various solutions. First and foremost, we aimed to create vibrant gardens filled with flowers and native meadows that support insects, birds, and small wildlife.
Another key focus was the reuse of materials. For this project, which includes a larger courtyard and a series of roof gardens, we repurposed elements from the old building facade and traditional Dutch tiles used in parking areas. These tiles were transformed into a floating boardwalk and patio in the courtyard. The old facade elements were repurposed for plant borders and custom lighting fixtures.
Our ultimate goal was to create a series of inviting outdoor spaces with soft, permeable surfaces, utilizing reused materials in a way that seamlessly integrates them into the design, avoiding any appearance of gimmickry.
