A former business park next to the train station in the Dutch city of Zwolle will become a new district dedicated to innovation, thanks to plans assigned by area developer Am and developed by a design team including MVRDV, Orange Architects and LOLA Landscape Architects. The project includes the construction of about 850 dwellings, about 30 percent of which will be social housing, and integrating educational institutions, workspaces for creative industries, catering, and a range of neighborhood facilities.

Covering a total area of 9.5 hectares, WärtZ comprises three distinct areas: to the east, near the station, is Spoorpark; to the west is Lurelei, with buildings designed by Orange Architects; and in the center is Werkplaatsen, with buildings designed by MVRDV. In the center of the district is the Wärtsilä shed, a factory and warehouse designed by Gert Grosfeld in 1998. Its undulating roof, which stands out as the largest building in the master plan, will become a visual marker of the area providing an element of continuity.

The Dutch firm also designed three mixed-use buildings, with offices on the lower levels and housing above. Clad in brick, these structures reference the pavilion roof with curved lines covering the ground floor windows. The architectures here are located within the green landscape designed by LOLA Landscape Architects-a project in which parts of the public space are returned to nature, in line with the principles of urban rewilding.