Office history

H+N+S Landscape Architects was founded in 1990 by Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze, Dirk Sijmons and Dick Hamhuis (later succeeded by Jandirk Hoekstra). From 2011, a number of employees gradually joined the management and the former management resigned. The management now consists of Nikol Dietz, Hank van Tilborg and Pieter Schengenga. Dirk, Lodewijk and Jandirk work in the role of consultants on the projects of the office.

For many years we have been a member of our professional association, the Dutch Association for Garden and Landscape Architecture (NVTL). In addition, the landscape architects are individually registered with the Register of Architects. Since 2019, we are the first landscape architecture firm to be affiliated with the knowledge network NatuurPro, a network organization for nature professionals.

The history of the office shows a number of periods, each of which can be characterized by a specific product, a new theme or an approach to the assignment.

REGIONAL DESIGN

Prior to the foundation of the office, the founders made a name for themselves with Plan Ooievaar, a spatial plan that won the first Eo Wijers competition in 1985. This plan marked a new generation of regional plans based on the soil and water system and nature development. In the first years of the office, these regional projects, in addition to studies on hull planning and the future of the peat meadow areas, formed the main part of the work.

In this period, the book 'Orden van abstinence' was also published, in which ecologists and landscape architects argue for a nature approach in which nature development is aided by interventions in water management or the soil. Furthermore, with the design for the Zaartpark (Breda), the office laid the foundation for a series of layout plans in which the design of bridges and striking basic forms played an important role.

SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT + LAYER APPROACH

During this period the office grows to ten landscape architects and designers. The idea of ​​a design laboratory takes shape, a working environment in which landscape themes are investigated and where design is done across the scales in mostly interdisciplinary teams. Landscape projects designed during this period cover the full spectrum from national visions to development plans. An example is the river dyke reinforcement of the Waaldijk between Afferden and Dreumel. The new dyke profile, in which safety and a sturdy appearance come together, will eventually be adopted as the standard profile for the Delta Act on major rivers.

The water management of the Netherlands will also be placed on the spatial planning agenda at this time. Under the leadership of Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze, the office is doing important pioneering work in translating sustainable water management into area plans. Furthermore, H+N+S invents the concept of the layers approach and the agency publishes the book '=Landscape', in which the most important research themes of the moment are reviewed.

HERITAGE + IMPLEMENTED PROJECTS

More than ten years after its foundation, the firm was awarded the Prince Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize for its role in the emancipation of the field of landscape architecture, and a few years later Dirk Sijmons received the Rotterdam-Maaskant Prize. On the occasion of the prize, he later publishes the book 'Landkaartmos and other reflections on landscape'.

In this period, the heritage theme is high on the agenda and plans for various former military defense lines, including the Defense Line of Amsterdam, are added to the oeuvre of H+N+S Landscape Architects.

The ambition to also want to make appealing, implementation-oriented projects was given an impulse in these years by the construction task in the Vinex districts of IJburg (Amsterdam) and Leidsche Rijn (Utrecht) and a number of special assignments, such as the surroundings of the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven). ) and several private gardens.

AREA DEVELOPMENT + INFRASTRUCTURE

In these years the agency grew towards the current size of more than 25 employees. As a result of the know-how and expertise built up in the agency, H+N+S receives more and more requests to participate in quality teams. Dirk Sijmons is appointed as Government Advisor for Landscape and Jandirk Hoekstra as leader of AtelierOverijssel. In 2010 H+N+S moved from Utrecht to the Wagenwerkplaats in Amersfoort.

During this period, H+N+S makes an important contribution to the Room for the River concept, a new perspective on the safety of the river area. Through implementation projects, the office also has the opportunity to translate the principles associated with Room for the River into concrete development plans (bypass Kampen and Waalweelde). Area development projects continue to form part of the order portfolio, for which market parties are increasingly the clients. The share of large infrastructure projects is growing, such as the Route Design A4 and A12, Area Vision A15, Central Axis Friesland and Landscape Plan Maasvlakte II.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY + CLIMATE CHANGE

In a period of uncertainty in the aftermath of the credit crisis, H+N+S participates in various selection procedures and open calls. With success, with tenders won for, among others, the National Military Museum (Soesterberg), the new building of the RIVM (Uithof, Utrecht), Naturalis (Leiden) and Room for the Waal (I-Lent, Nijmegen).

Nikol Dietz and Hank van Tilborg will join the board in September 2011. In October of the same year, Dirk Sijmons is appointed professor of landscape architecture at TU Delft. In March 2012, Jandirk Hoekstra was appointed Provincial Spatial Quality Advisor for the province of North Holland. In 2014 Pieter Schengenga also joins the management from his own ranks.

H+N+S GOES INTERNATIONAL

H+N+S Landscape Architects manifests itself more emphatically abroad in these years. H+N+S won various competitions in Belgium, such as for Belle Vue Park (Leuven) and Citadel Park (Ghent), and for the International Architecture Biennale 2012 in Rotterdam, the office is working on Test Site Istanbul. In the US, the agency is involved in the Dutch Dialogues in New Orleans (in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina) and a little later successfully with its entry for New Jersey in the Rebuild by design competition (after Hurricane Sandy). Dutch knowledge is used to prepare these places for climate change ('resilient').

In this period, energy and sustainability play an important role in the portfolio (including Small Energy Atlas and various windmill studies). The publication Landscape and Energy will be published in 2014, led by Dirk Sijmons, in which the spatial consequences of the transition to sustainable energy are examined using a number of scenarios. During this period, the bureau will continue to work on parts of the Delta Programme, in which the consequences of climate change have been studied for the following areas and brought together in long-term explorations for 2100: future prospects for the Southwest Delta, IJssel-Vecht Delta and Atelier Kustkwaliteit.

DUTCH APPROACH

In the fall of 2015, H+N+S celebrates its 25th anniversary. To mark this occasion, we are organizing a triptych around the 'Dutch Approach' at the Wagenwerkplaats. On three Friday afternoons, speakers from the Netherlands and abroad will reflect on the merits and opportunities of the 'Dutch Approach', led by Eric Luiten, then Government Advisor for the Landscape.

HONORED

In the years 2017-2020 we won many prizes. As an agency, we received the Landezine International landscape Award (LILA) in 2017 for our oeuvre. That year Dirk Sijmons receives the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award from the International Federation of Landscape Architects. In 2018, we won prizes with NEXT Architects at the Dutch Design Awards with the Zaligebrug. A year later, we received the jury prize of the Water Innovation Prize in the Water Safety category with the Ooijen-Wanssum project. In 2019 we will also receive theLila Award in the public space category for the Beatrix lock project.

Dick Hamhuis

At the beginning of 2019, we received the sad news that Dick Hamhuis, one of the founding fathers of H+N+S, passed away. He lives on in the name of our agency that started in 1990 as Hamhuis + Van Nieuwenhuijze + Sijmons

The diversification of our field of work continues during this period, resulting in a wide range of assignments, large and small, and with different thematic fields. Our Majesty the King will officially open the Reevediep near Kampen in 2019. The new water connection between the IJssel and the Drontermeer is the completion of the Room for the River IJsseldelta project. With the construction of the Reevediep, high water is more easily drained and more recreational and residential opportunities are created in the IJsseldelta.

Since 2019, H+N+S Landscape Architects has been affiliated with Natuurpro: a network organization that is committed to a natural living environment, with nature development as the basis for a healthy society. Natuurpro is a network of nature professionals, consisting of gardeners, ecologists, landscape architects and nature contractors.

Our anniversary year 2020, like the rest of the world this year, is defined and overshadowed by the corona crisis, especially when it comes to our festive plans. Everything has to be celebrated appropriately, but we still celebrate, in small. And we are busier than ever when it comes to work.

THE ETERNAL SOURCE

In this period, winning the Eo Wijers competition with the concept 'The Eternal Source' is a highlight. This competition has a special meaning for our agency. The 1st edition of the Eo Wijers competition, won in 1985, formed the basis for the office. It is special to win this prize again, precisely in the 30th anniversary year, with a project that hopefully can form another important step in the landscape design of the Netherlands, with solutions for the drought problem in our country. Together with the province of Overijssel, Vitens and Groene Metropool Twente, we are currently working on a follow-up.

ANNIVERSARY PUBLICATION

After a year of preparation, our anniversary magazine 'Denken, doen, laten' will be published in early 2021. It is a publication that testifies to 30 years of patient and careful tinkering with the landscape. With our 30th anniversary as a reason, we look at the harvest and development of our professional practice in the period of 1990-2000 with clients, cooperation partners and former employees. The publication highlights 30 of the office's completed projects.

H+N+S is an agency where employees are generally loyal and loyal. Nevertheless, over the years several people have spread their wings and left the nest. And that's good too. H+N+S has really turned out to be a training machine. Some have started a successful private practice, small (Clarie Laeremans, Thijs de Zeeuw) or larger (Feddes Olthof). Others have exchanged the role of consultant at a private firm for that of a public servant, with a large municipality or government department, or have opted for a career in research or education. Among the former employees are Eric Luiten (2012-2016) and Yttje Feddes (2008-2012), two Government Advisors for the Landscape. They thus followed in the footsteps of Dirk Sijmons, who was the first to hold this position from 2004 to 2008.