Almeerderhout Forest
A 1,400-acre urban forest is being rediscovered. The Almeerderhout Forest is growing with the city, responding to changing needs of the modern city dweller and contributing to a green and healthy living environment for plants, animals and people.
The State Forestry Department (Staatsbosbeheer) and the Municipality of Almere together have the ambition to make the Almeerderhout the urban forest of the future. This ambition took shape in the Development Plan Almeerderhout (lola, 2020) and was further elaborated by Polyfern in the Atlas Almeerderhout. Subsequently, Polyfern made the plans and designs for the first 700 hectares of the forest.
Central part of the design is the forest circuit. A recognisable continuous route of 18.2 km that connects the three forest atmospheres and the surrounding neigbourhoods. The circuit connects to existing routes such as Rondje Weerwater and passes iconic locations such as the Groene Kathedraal, Stadslandgoed De Kemphaan and, in time, new forest icons. The forest circuit offers space for sports, relaxation and wonder.
Where the forest and the surrounding neighbourhoods meet, new entrances, routes and place-making in ‘forest rooms’ are created. The forest rooms are the places where residents may realise their own ideas in the forest. In a participatory planning process, a rich array of initiatives was collected for this purpose. From silence spot to outdoor classroom, from poetry garden to sports park.
Based on the anatomy and growth habit of the trees in the forest, Polyfern designed a family of furniture, signs and entrance markings. These are used throughout Almeerderhout and contribute to recognisability and cohesion in the large forest. The natural shape of tree trunks was taken as the basis for these special ‘nature sculptures’. The wood is harvested locally and is released during the management of the forest. This creates a circular chain from ‘plant to plan’. Implementation will start in 2025. Polyfern also made the design for five new special destinations in the Almeerderhout: the forest icons. See the project page.
(The design are currently in the process of approval by the municipality and Staatsbosbeheer. No rights can be derived from the images).
Year: 2025
Type: plan, public space design, landscape
Client: municipality of Almere and Staatsbosbeheer
Size: approx. 1400 hectares area
Status: Implementation from 2025 onwards
