Developing a design framework for workscapes through field experiments on TU Delft Campus, the Netherlands

Source abstract

Pedestrianisation is increasingly prominent in Dutch urban environments, as municipalities seek more sustainable mobility and improved spatial quality. Yet 20% of the Dutch built-up surface, its business districts, lags behind. These urban landscapes remain dominated by fast-moving traffic and include insufficient high-quality public space, despite being places where many people spend substantial time. These environments are not future-proof, whilst they have great potential to become more multifunctional and socio-ecologically inclusive landscapes: workscapes. Theoretical knowledge on designing workscapes is lacking. The TU Delft Campus is one of the business districts that exemplifies the transformative development from a car-oriented, sealed-surface work environment to a more socio-ecologically inclusive, sustainable one. This paper describes spatial strategies of the TU Delft Campus and presents field experiments within the scope of designing workscapes to assess how local interventions can contribute to the spatial quality of business districts. The research identifies a set of design patterns that support workscape development by transforming recurring elements of business districts into socio-ecologically inclusive spaces. Examples include diversifying monotonous green strips in street profiles and introducing human-scale interventions in oversized, underused paved spaces. Early observations indicate promising ecological and social effects. Beyond the resulting patterns, the study contributes a methodology for translating site-specific landscape experiments into transferable design knowledge through the pattern language approach. By integrating field experimentation, research through design, and pattern language theory, the paper offers a framework for generating and communicating design knowledge. Although applied here to the transformation of business districts into workscapes, the methodology is transferable to other landscape and urban transformation challenges.