The Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment awarded the Beautiful Holland innovation award in the category of Location Identity to OD205 planning and design s Maaslandse Dam project.

The project was also nominated by the province of South Holland as a significant project that is improving the quality of the Dutch rural area.

Maaslandse Dam is a rural area in the municipality of Midden Delfland, in the Netherlands. The area is part of a polder, of which the landscape was largely dominated by greenhouses. In order to preserve the authentic Dutch landscape, the municipality decided to remove the greenhouses and re develop the area with the ambition of developing an attractive and economically enriched environment, where living, work and leisure are all represented.

OD 205 planning and design was invited to draw up an Environment Quality Plan to propose the direction for further developments.

The ‘Market Garden’ quality development concept proposed by OD205 is based on the three essential landscape qualities: cultivation history, utility traditions and historic settlement. ‘Market garden refers to the agricultural history of the area: a market garden used to be the growth area of a small agricultural business just outside a city that provided the local people with fruit and vegetables.

The developments spatial foundation is formed by a green frame. A solid structure of domestic trees mixed with fruit bearing trees creating a uniform atmosphere. As a counter shape to the frame, open spaces are cut out. These spaces provide opportunities for entrepreneurs to both live and develop their businesses. The ambition is to attract culture and leisure related activity, such as care farms, artists, a theatre, bed and breakfasts and other hospitality businesses.