Park Groot Vijversburg is a romantic public park with a growing art collection located in the north of the Netherlands. The park is broadening its boundaries and is ambitious to become a national destination. The design gives a contemporary interpretation to two new park chambers, which link the historical park, a post-war recreational area, and a nature reserve.

A central element in the design is the ‘Star Maze’, a remix of two historic park figures: the star-shaped forest and the labyrinth. This structure consists of five-meter tall hedges that function like room dividers for the existing meadow and create several park spaces suitable for various uses. On top of this, the structure creates connections to the surrounding landscape and arranges accessibility to the various fields.

Each ending of the ‘Star Maze’ has a function, such as a landscape balcony with a view over the nature reserve, a pier for canoe travellers in the recreational area, a window with a vista to the main park villa, and a shed with rubber boots, to explore the marshland. The second park chamber, which can be flooded regularly, contains several hills with perennials in a field of pollard willows. The hills can be reached through a grid structure of small dikes.

Project Data


Landscape Architecture: LOLA Landscape Architects

Type: park design
Design: 2011-2015
Location: Tytsjerk, The Netherlands
Size: 8 ha
Client: Stichting op Toutenberg
I.c.w. Deltavormgroep & Piet Oudolf
Photo: Iwan Baan