ONE designed the urban plan and infrastructure for the Deventer Rivierenwijk. In 2008, housing corporation Rentree’s ambitious plans for the transformation of the Deventer Rivierenwijk, a so-called Vogelaarwijk, came to a slow stop. 300 houses were already demolished in the process, leaving a neighborhood torn to pieces. After this, One Architecture was asked to design an ‘essay’ on the future of the neighborhood. The essays main analysis focused on the arduous method of planning used in the past, in which every aspect and element was entangled with all other aspects and elements. ONE proposed an alternative way of planning and was commissioned to lead a new start.

ONE’s Urban Framework describes spatial starting points, conditions and directives. It indicates how the actors’ various spatial interventions, e.g. the reconstruction of the Amstellaan, 500 new houses, local facilities, neighborhood connections, and landscape structure, will combine into a coherent result. All obstacles obstructing the restart have been solved with the designs of the plan’s components. An important feature in the design and how the neighborhood will function in the future was integrating and widening the Amstellaan, a main traffic artery. For this, One Architecture created a new design. With the design within budget and having the full support of the area’s residents, the reconstruction of the neighborhood and its infrastructure was re-started in 2013.

Further optimizations of the plan’s components are the result of this integral planning process. Investments in the integration of the Amstellaan also helped with the construction of Children’s Center. Project Amstellaan has resulted in a “tree bank”, making full-grown trees available cheaply for new construction. The green buffer space enables flexibility and room for optimization of Rentree’s housing program. The various components can be elaborated within this Framework in a time and pace fit to the specific project. This also allows for the insertion of new insights in the project.