Housing block

Design 2007, completion 2008-2009

Principal: Ontwikkelingsverband Houten (56 apartments) and Dura Vermeer Bouw Houten (14 apartements)

Architect: Alex Goedemans

Beautiful, affordable housing along railway, with noise barrier. Within partly redeveloped office strip. The two buildings are also the sound insulation for the neighborhood.

• 5276 m2 GBO
• 65 -71 m2 per dwelling excluding storage and common hall
• 6126 m2 GFA.

 

Entrance of the neighborhood

The housing block “De Suite” is the entrance of the neighborhood. That’s why I wanted it to stand out. Because of the pronounced red brickwork on the sunny side and the bright colors of red, yellow and orange on the shady side, the Suite provides extra color to its surroundings. The long sides of the building are both front. A backside doesn’t exist. The Suite is like a locomotive for the neighboring office buildings that are connected in succession as wagons. The explicit articulation of the building reacts to the environment without taking it literally. This articulation consists of the masonry surfaces, the color fields and the noise barrier on the railway track side. This noise barrier I have “folded” like a folding screen, to ensure a pleasant gallery entrance to the house. This screen guides the occupant to his recognizable home.

Together, the transparent entrance hall and the galleries behind the “folding screen” make the common interior of the building. The masonry planes, in turn, are filled with staggered sliding doors with French balconies to enhance the surfaces and to give the building a relaxing atmosphere. The exact format of the gables incidentally was a surprise, because the buyers of the corner houses determined that.

The wide dwellings I have given a clever plan. The shower room, toilet and storage are centered, so creating spacious rooms have been created. In the living room, the large sliding doors with French balcony give lots of light and air.