Foyer Bos en Lommer

This housing block was originally designed to provide temporary accommodation for 80 young people between 17 and 26 years of age; young people with a work placement or temporary work, and those seeking independent living accommodation. It was also intended for newly arrived young immigrants. Just before the building was completed, however, its function was altered.

The top two storeys of the four-storey building are currently in use as temporary accommodation for 40 foreign students. The 32 apartments on the lower two storeys house individuals with a slight mental handicap. The ground floor contains communal spaces and facilities for the neighbourhood, such as a conference hall and a function room. The alterations to the programme did not cause problems because the spaces are large and flexible.

The design for the Foyer is intended as a link between the neutral row housing of the fifties, which is so characteristic of the district of Bos en Lommer, and the eye-catching, freestanding church ‘de Kolenkit’ (the coal scuttle). Two elongated building volumes, one of which is set back from the building line, have been linked so as to create an autonomous block with an asymmetrical atrium in its heart, which provides the building with extra daylight. The entrance gives direct access to this atrium and all of the dwellings are accessible from here. In order to emphasize the building’s special function, the elevations are clad with soft yellow travertine. (ARCAM/LM)