Enhancement of an area of the old town, currently occupied by the city’s hospital. The new area (24,000 m2) is separated from the market square (12,000 m2), the present-day centre of life of the historic centre, by a block of houses. The duality created by the difference in size of these two adjacent public spaces produces an attractive urban dynamic. The new area is laid out around the historic building of the former hospital (now a library), the presence of the canals and a series of buildings that border it to the north and form the façade overlooking Zuit Willemsvaart canal.