Station Santpoort Noord - Buitenpoort

The station as a gateway to the landscape, that's the idea behind the Buitenpoorten program. The Amsterdam Metropolitan Region and the Province of North Holland aim to make the landscape accessible from busy urban areas. Nature experience begins right at the station; landscape, facilities, and a perfect connection with nature. At Santpoort Noord – gateway to the South Kennemerland National Park – we explored as a test case what this concept could mean for the station area.

The environment: the Binnenduinrand
The landscape around Santpoort is very special. The village directly borders the South Kennemerland National Park, which consists of a coastal and dune zone and a zone with a mosaic of forests, open areas, and cultural heritage. With the country estates, established by wealthy Amsterdam residents back when the Wykermeer was still there. The strength of the landscape lies in the coherence between the zones: they benefit from each other's proximity.

Strategic interventions
Santpoort Noord Station has an ideal position to become the second gate to the National Park. We propose to extend the park boundary over the railway (1). The station will function as a visitor center and mark the entrance to the Park (2). The barrier that the station area, along with the estate, currently forms will once again become a connection. This includes the immediate station surroundings but also the quality/functionality of the broader environment.

The Station
The current station does not exploit the potential of the environment. The station building is disused, and the tunnel is unsafe. Ticket machines, information boards, OV-chip card gates, bicycle racks, and parking spaces seem to have been randomly placed. All this means that you never feel like you are just a few steps away from a National Park. We have developed three spatial concepts that will change that.

In the most ambitious model, the station becomes a true landscape station. The landscape folds under the tracks; the station square slopes gently into the bicycle tunnel. The station building becomes a symbol for the entrance to the National Park. The waiting area becomes the visitor center, with catering.