By Gabrielle Kennedy / 14-01-2010

Last year's plan by the Rietveld Academy to take students into the very real word of Center Parcs was not only realized, but is being touted by all as a resounding success.

On a new vacant plot purchased by the Center Parcs in De Urlauer Tann in Germany, there are a series of old bunkers used during WWII to store ammunitions and chemical weapons.  The plan is to transform the space into a sub-tropical swimming paradise with cottages and to incorporate the bunkers.  Some architects have already been asked to come up with proposals, but nothing has been satisfactory.  “This was a huge opportunity for the students,” says Bas van Beek, head of the DesignLAB.  “If they could come up with something truly astonishing, the company would commission and pay for it.”

According to Van Beek, the bunkers now resemble Teletubby hills and have ventilation but no heating.  They were originally built by the Germans, the Americans and the United Nations.

Before starting on this project, a lot of the students felt uninspired by the very suburban character of the client.  “Of course they were suspicious,” says Van Beek.  “But we spent a lot of time prepping with them about the philosophy of Center Parcs and it turns out it is quite progressive and very much about revamping its image.”

“I think some students were concerned because the project was going to be so commercial,” says Jolan van der Wiel one of the participants.  “But doing something with a real company was also something we knew would give us a lot of good experience.  We could be creative but all the ideas had to work in a mainstream environment.”

One of Center Parc’s defining features is a reluctance to stagnate.  “Whenever they build a new facility or function that works, they retro-fit it into other venues so in every venue there is always a renovation going on.”

Another company belief that attracted students was the more real-life interpretation of concepts.  One recent Center Parcs project was a pancake house designed by in-house designers.  “The designers came up with everything from the concept to the realization,” says Van Beek.  “Usually management comes up with the concept.”

The pancake house designers stuck true to every detail of their concept and the results proved to be unpopular amongst visitors.  “In schools we teach students that they absolutely must be conceptually consistent in every detail,” says Van Beek. “But in fact that often doesn't work in real life and you need to know how to be more flexible.”

Van der Wiel’s final proposal was a subcenter concept that will help to break through the very homogenous atmosphere of the centers.  “I think a lot of people end up feeling a bit stupid in these sorts of facilities,” he says. “I wanted to come up with a way to make them feel more autonomous.  They can still participate in all the planned activities, but also have more control over their holiday and I think Center Parcs definitely agrees with this.”   

The issue is a lack of diversity and that everything available on the sites, especially when it comes to catering and hospitality, feels like more of the same.  “This is because everything offered comes from within the company,” Van der Wiel says.  “There is no competition.”

The idea to introduce subcenters entails offering local entrepreneurs the chance to operate from within the centers.  “I based this idea on how green cities grow,” Van der Wiel says.  “They don't have one big center, but lots of smaller and accessible ones with air in between.”  So rather than have everyone descend on the same massive epicenter that offers various options that don't properly offer choice, visitors can select very different environments that are more scattered around the grounds.

The students have not yet been told which of their ideas Center Parcs will realize.  “They told me they were really happy, but I’m not sure yet if they which of our proposals they will go ahead with.”

The Rietveld Academy has taken design students internationally to Istanbul, Warsaw and Nepal for projects in the past, but this is the first time they have engaged in a budget-neutral excursion.  “All costs were covered by Center Parcs,” says Van Beek.


Images: top page and main Jolan van der Wiel's "Discover Diversity" project, Center Parcs fun, teletubby hills and various student proposals including a compost facility, a petting zoo, a travelling cafe and a salt spa.

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