Redeveloping Neglected Maritime Heritage
Design strategies for the adaptive reuse of a Shipyard, transforming industrial heritage into a resilient public space
E.E.W. Huisman (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
A.W. Hermkens – Mentor (TU Delft - Heritage & Architecture)
T.P. Bennebroek – Mentor (TU Delft - Heritage & Architecture)
Ivan Nevzgodin – Mentor (TU Delft - Heritage & Architecture)
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Abstract
This project proposes to reconnect the hidden, neglected maritime heritage of Sliedrecht with the public realm through spatial, material, and narrative-based design strategies. It is part of the Heritage & Architecture studio, with a focus on transforming maritime heritage into publicly accessible spaces that reinforce local identity and landscape memory.
Located across the Biesbosch, the Delta Shipyard and adjacent watertower embody the layered history of Sliedrecht’s shipbuilding legacy. Through three key strategies—preservation and adaptive reuse, material reuse and sustainability, and storyline and interpretation—the project aims to revive the site without erasing its traces of labor, erosion, and change. Formerly fragmented and inaccessible, the site is reimagined as a continuous, layered landscape where the historical and contemporary overlap through careful spatial interventions.
Historic fragmentation gives way to a layered, accessible environment where memory and use co-exist. By designing with and through the remnants of the shipyard, the project allows the community to re-engage with their maritime past, transforming a former industrial enclave into a collective space for leisure, culture, and reflection, rooted in both site and story.