Nicolaas Beets school – Designing a New Climate-Resilient Schoolyard
Year: 2023 – 2026
Status: Construction Completed
Location: Heemstede, The Netherlands
Surface: 3600 m2
Client: TWIJS
Team: Raquel Teixeira dos Santos, Mariska Hamelink, Renet Korthals Altes
Partners & Collaborators: J2O Architecten
A schoolyard that truly fits the Noordwijkse Method? But also climate-proof, and a neighborhood meeting place? Primary school De Ark in Heemstede led the way! Together with the teachers, we brainstormed about the core of the Noordwijkse Method and their ideal outdoor space. Children participated in climate and diversity in play lessons, and managed to translate that into beautiful design ideas. The input from teachers and students once again gave us unique ideas that truly resonate with this place, the neighborhood, and especially the Noordwijkse Method.
See the result: lots of open-ended play, which can be adapted to suit different themes: a sunken water collection with a stage for culture, a forest classroom, a weather station, a neighbourhood fruit along the fences, and above all many places where children can create their own play, wonder, ask questions, work together, and keep pushing their boundaries.











