Housing complex in urban restructuring area

The levelling of a dike, which for many years had formed a barrier between two neighbourhoods, gave rise to an elongated building site between Haarlemmerweg and Lambertus Zijlplein, thereby creating space with which to densify the district and reconnect the two neighbourhoods.

Within the urban design scheme drawn up for the entire strip by SVP Architectuur en Stedebouw, FARO designed a housing complex with 138 dwellings in both the rental and the owner-occupied sector, as well as a half-sunken parking garage. Important departure points were the continuation of the garden city concept, the definition and delineation of the green space and the creation of a high housing density.

Linking up with the surrounding street pattern, the site was divided into three sections. In each section, around a communal garden, a mixed programme of ground-accessed and stacked dwellings has been housed in alternating tall and long volumes. An aluminium- and brick-clad wall around the complex forms a strong boundary between the public and the collective area. All of the dwellings have flexible floor plans and where possible an entrance on the street. (ARCAM/BU