Urban scheme: The 'Bloemkoolwijk' is a typical Dutch residential development from the 70-ies. It is nicknamed after a cauliflower (Bloemkool) since it's structure resembles the vegetable. Meant to bring back human scale into the Dutch urban landscape, these areas with numerous cul-de-sacs are a true maze for visitors. Since more attractive alternatives show up, Bloemkoolwijken are losing their popularity amongst families and start to show the negative effects of decline.
New Waldeck in The Hague is such an area. The park at the center of the district has an unpleasant character. All surrounding houses face the park with their backyards which results in minimal social control. A few incisions in the dense building-mass surrounding the park opens it up to the area and creates new front-side situations for all residential buildings facing it. Moreover, it opens up the possibility to complete the latent inner ringroad of the district. This will transform the park into the accessible focal point of the area and will make it an orientation marker in the challenging structure of the Bloemkoolwijk.
Residential block: A ran down housing-block not far from the park, needs renovation. It's facade is outdated, it's courtyard unheimisch, unused and because of bad front-backside orientation, unsafe. Most dwellings have tiny floorplans and do not sell on the housing market. This results in a low social status of new inhabitants and has negative effects on the social mix and cohesion in the block.
We came up with a relatively small solution that solves all these problems. A new frame is placed 2 and 3 meters in front of the current front and back facade. Future and current residents can expand their houses in the space that is created between the two facades. This process creates a play between the old and new which results in a versatile bottom-up facade lay-out. The new frame facilitates the merging of multiple dwellings, solves the orientation issues and increases the energy efficiency of the block. The courtyard is updated and fitted out with private and communal vegetable gardens in which residents get to know each other by sharing their home grown food.
team
Sascha Glasl
Tjeerd Haccou
Marthijn Pool
year
2009
competion
Europan (selected)
