Fietsklim
Zoetermeer

Biking is a most beautiful way to experience ones surroundings. You’re going fast enough for a nice detour yet slow enough to perceive everything fully. This silent way of travel allows you to feel, smell and hear everything the outdoors has to offer. The Dutch landscape does miss one vital element however, that would make cycling even more miss one vital element that would make cycling even more enjoyable and challenging: hilliness. For some cyclists, cycling uphill is the ultimate experience, due to the combination of the effort during the climb, the vista at the top and the reward of the descent. In the Netherlands, hills are rare and lie close to the ground. In the province of South Holland, they are especially sparse. This is why we wanted to create a climb in the heart of the ‘ Randstad’: the seventy-meter high Fietsklim of Zoetermeer. 

Zoetermeer is located in the center of the most urbanized region in The Netherlands. As a versatile green facility in the urban fringe, the contrasting Buytenpark serves as a home to one of the few free-standing tall buildings in South Holland: Snowworld's indoor ski slope. The difference in height between the level in Buytenpark and the top of the track is about 70 meters, which is by Dutch standards a pretty serious climb with a seriously beautiful view along route. After an extensive soil investigation and and consultation with stakeholders around the Buytenpark, (such as Buytenpark Quality Team Foundation, Snowworld Zoetermeer and TV Zoetermeer '77) it was decided to locate the Fietsklim east of the existing Snowworld complex. Building in this area will have a smaller impact on the existing nature within Buytenpark and offers a good connection to Snowworld, the bicycle club and the network of bicycle paths. During the design of The Fietsklim, a few basic construction principles were honored, namely a minimal use of materials, simple principles, low weight due to substrate, use of as many prefabricated componants as possible and implementing a modular system. The design team also considered principles used in rollercoaster construction, namely: efficient use of material, using low weight material, reaching a limited foundation pressure, limiting wind capture. 

As mentioned, the Fietsklim Zoetermeer is set to be realized in the Buytenpark. This park is already a strong representative of biodiverse but also visitor-friendly natural cores where active recreation meets dense nature on a reused wasteland. Located on the urban fringe and surrounded by the polder landscape, this park is actively being used as a neighborhood park with sequentially emerging wilderness. We view this distinct nature composition as a biodiversity core, buffered by a levee system and gradually expanding into the more fragmented green stepping-stones of the polder landscape. The park thus provides an important condition for biodiversity, namely undisturbed fluidity for the migration of both animal and flower species. The nearly 100-acre park consists of a vast array of green features (from animal grazing species, allotments to sports fields) with an incredibly diverse landscape experience. It is therefore not surprising that there are many unique species to be found in this area, such as rare butterflies, (roof) birds, small mammals such as the ermine and weasel, and also Scottisch Cattle, Drenthe Heath Sheep and Exmoor Ponies. With its unique elevation, The Fietsklim Zoetermeer will be a great addition to this diverse landscape experience, creating opportunities for providing new types of breeding habitat. The richly planted hills between the elevated bike paths provide continuity and create a consistent green carpet within this varied landscape, thus contributing to the enrichment of existing biodiversity patterns and creating a stronger, more stable ecological core of the Buytenpark.