How small interventions make public spaces more pleasant

About 10% of the population suffers from an anxiety disorder, including fear of small spaces (claustrophobia) or agoraphobia (agoraphobia). By taking these phobias into account, good design can add value to public spaces. Simple interventions such as partially opening up enclosed spaces and breaking up monotonous plains with more organic design can already be very effective.

Underground parking lots in particular often feel cramped. In city centers, these parking lots offer a solution for residents and visitors. They keep cars out of the streetscape and provide space above ground. Space that can be used for shopping, walking, going out, events and cultural activities. The added value of underground car parks is therefore obvious, but the steel, concrete and, above all, completely enclosed catacombs do not provide the most pleasant feeling.

Terramesh System® elements are calculated stable thanks to their own weight, combined with horzontal ground reinforcement.

Contact with outdoor environment
Texion thinks that could be different. Neatly hand-filled and stacked Terramesh System^® gabions offer an attractive alternative of leaving the sides open. In this way, the visitor no longer feels confined, but has contact with the outdoor environment. The use of natural stone establishes the first contact with nature, while the natural light along with the outside air gives an open feeling. In addition to the open feeling, walls smeared with graffiti are also eliminated, gabions absorb small settlements without breaking and provide a fully draining structure. 

Green Terramesh® soil reinforcement allows you to build intricate geometric shapes with soil. The colors and dimensions on the drawing indicate the angle and length of each reinforcement element.

Break the plane on squares
While industrial floors are preferably as flat as a water table, for plazas where people meet, it is better to break the tread. Small breaks in the tread instinctively break the ice between people. Steps and thresholds are tripped over, but not flowing slopes that, like a natural meadow, do away with the monotonous flat. To reinforce the underlying soil in places where a slope or berm is constructed, or a mound is built, Texions offer products such as Green Terramesh^® an interesting solution. 

The new parking lots of the Technical University of Twente will be constructed with an Accorder® that provides increased bearing capacity and water oplsag under the pavement.

Buffer for rainwater
Increasingly heavy rainfall negatively impacts our public spaces. Excess water flows into rivers and sewers, resulting in flooding. Permeable paving can provide a solution to this. AquaBASE is a total system that allows water storage in the foundation, without reducing the bearing capacity of the surface. For this purpose, the Accorder^® developed, a geotextile preformed into a honeycomb structure. Because of the compartmentalization, Accorder is able to properly enclose the collapsed mineral aggregate, allowing the structure to retain its strength at a lower level, thereby also providing better resistance to permanent deformation. Internet-connected monitoring wells are used to monitor the level of the water storage.

More information and advice on designing and applying with Texions products? Please contact Tina De Meerleer ([email protected]). 

The amount of water in storage under the pavement is permanently monitored with intelligent monitoring wells. The history of the level is a measure for the design of subsequent projects.