Zwin
The bird and nature reserve ‘Het Zwin’ is a protected nature area between Flanders and the Netherlands. The assignment included the redesign of the existing natural park and the creation of a new visitor center.
The authentic maritime landscape with its sand dunes, mud flats and salt marshes, modelled by the sea breeze, consists mainly of wavy lines. Within this wavy landscape COUSSÉE & GORIS architects constructed abstract linear volumes as anchors in the landscape. They also create a fluent transition between the silted forest and the nearby redeveloped ‘Kleyne vlakte’.
The architectural interventions consist of a series of parallel lines, that on one hand structure the landscape and on the other hand shelter as wind screens in the Zwin area. They protect man from nature and vice versa.
Cultural characters were evaded to maximize the natural character of the reserve.
Concrete and wood are used once in the interior once in the exterior. The structure is based when in concrete on wooden formwork walls and when in wood of wooden beams and columns that form porches.
