Boom - Master plan Station

The station surroundings of Boom look rather dreary today. Unused plots of building land and abandoned business sites demand to be filled in. The station square itself is home to limited activity. The public space is of a low quality and the edges of the area are unfinished. The municipality of Boom and the province of Antwerp wish to obtain a master plan for the renovation and redesign of the station surroundings.

The station surroundings lie like an island between a multiplicity of infrastructures. In the east, the border is formed by the A12 motorway, which runs here in a deep trench. Only one bridge connects the station with the centre of Boom, on the other side of this trench. In the west, the station surroundings are defined by the railway and the industrial plots in the rear. To the south of the station surroundings lie the Rupel river and the Zeekanaal canal. These limit the possibilities for rail traffic. At the same time, the Rupel does offer opportunities for logistics or people transport by water. For pedestrians and cyclists, there is, in addition to the single street-level entrance, a tunnel under the railway.

The presence of the Rupel, the railway and the proximity of busy cycling infrastructures all make of the station surroundings of Boom a potentially strong multimodal mobility hub. This potentially elevated junction value creates in turn development opportunities with a high lever value for Boom and its surroundings.

Boom is indeed centrally located in the Flemish Diamond, along one of the most important traffic axes of Flanders. This naturally means that Boom is easy to reach, mostly by road. Flanked by the Rupel and formed by clay extraction, the municipality has gone through a very dynamic and diverse development. As a a relatively small municipality, Boom has urban features: it is a junction of services and has an important economic value. The municipality also faces urban challenges, such as an on average low socio-economic profile of the population.

The challenge is to establish spatial and programmatic connections between the station environment and the surrounding areas and zones. Not only must the station surroundings become a lively, multifunctional space in which living, working and relaxing reinforce each other. The station and its surroundings must once more become the link that connects: that bridges infrastructures and that binds people, streams, functions and developments and raises them to a higher level. By making connections, the station surroundings will be released from its isolation. A high-quality connection for cyclists and pedestrians with the centre of Boom is an absolute necessity. By cleverly activating the site, the station surroundings can be a lever to connect mobility in the region, to make it sustainable and to set in motion a modal shift.

A first step in this process is the preparation of a strategic master plan. For this purpose, the principals are looking for an innovative and multidisciplinary team that wants to help shape the future image of the municipality. Via this Open Call procedure, the following assignments will be allocated:

• the preparation of a master plan for the station surroundings, in response to the ambition statement that the principals have drawn up jointly;
• advice about the realization possibilities (PPS, subsidies, etc.) and a strategy including a critical path.

The ambition, objectives and preconditions of the principals were outlined in an ambition statement that will serve as a framework for the assignment. The principals wish to ensure a high degree of participation in the preparation of the plan. The participation process is discussed in the procedural note.

Owing to the complexity of the site, the development process will also be complex. Getting the many parties involved and stakeholders to work, plan and invest together is a real challenge, but it is necessary to achieve a widely supported development.

Selection criteria

On the basis of the submitted application, the following selection criteria will be studied and tested with regard to the principal’s objectives:

• the general design-based expertise with regard to the project assignment;
• the professional competence;
• the relevant experience.

Allocation criteria

On the basis of the submitted application, the following selection criteria will be studied and tested with regard to the principal’s objectives:

1. The quality of the concept and vision development and of the research by design, tested against the ambitions and expectations of the public principal as formulated in the specifications.
2. The feasibility of the master plan.
3. The process-orientation and process-readiness.
4. The aspects regarding sustainability applied in the master plan.
5. The team composition and the division of tasks for the execution of the master plan.

 The weighting of the respective allocation criteria is as follows: 4/3/2/1/1