Reclaiming the canal from the car

Student project for the first master project ‘Master project 1 Blue Corridor (7WS15)’ taken during the master Urban Design and Planning at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Project in collaboration with the municipality of Eindhoven and the waterboard the Dommel.

The Blue Corridor is the old industrial canal zone of Eindhoven situated along the ‘Eindhovens Kanaal’. Nowadays it mainly consists of DIY-stores and home decoration shops. This is the second largest cluster of this segment in the Eindhoven region and the only one right next to the center. The area is however not very inviting and not fit for the human scale. Presumably customers drive their car to the front of the shop, buy something and leave the area right after they are done.

The area has much more potential than this ‘drive-by-shopping’, the development of the canal has a large role in this. Building on what currently already exists a new brand was created for the area. The brand ‘blauw’ is introduced as a up-to-the-minute new image of the area that previously had no identity. Brand blauw is a tough and short refers to to the historic harbor function of the area. The brand represents local design and craftsmanship that Eindhoven is famous for.

In the new design the street is transformed in a pedestrian friendly street that invites people to stay longer in the area, stroll, watch other people or drink something.

The second important part of development is a new connection between the canal sides in the form of a pavilion and bridge.

Shops with extended shopping hours and a drive-in cinema should make the place more lively even during the evenings.

The road along the canal will be used as shared space. This is important to make the canal more accessible for pedestrians.

Location: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Date: January 2015
Project type: Master project
Institute: Eindhoven University of Technology
Collaboration: City of Eindhoven and Waterboard the Dommel