Description
The project is located on a strip of the city on which The Hague’s social housing festival was held. The festival’s urban plan asked for a maximum of transparency – paradoxically – from the superblock, as this specific site marks the border between a residential and a green zone. Zaaijer and Christiaanse, who also conceived the master plan, recognized the challenge and put the bar on pilotis (with parking below) and gave their building two distinct sides: one, of stone, to the street; the second, dematerializing in glass and balconies facing the canal. Moreover, they perforated the bar with 3 openings in which the circulation and communal terraces are visible from the street. These perforations divide the very deep building into three sections, each with its own access.
The entire building has an abundance of offerings: various apartment types for different resident groups; various forms of access (central corridor on the 4th and 6th floor, gallery on the 2nd floor) as well as gigantic communal terraces and indoor spaces for flexible use according to the desires of the residents. These can also be joined with the apartments to permit different living arrangements.
Like the building as a whole, the floor plans of the individual units offer tremendous flexibility. The bath and kitchen complex is as compact as possible, there are as few walls as possible. The resident is called upon to design his/her own living environment. The apartments on the second floor are either continuous (1½ crosswall widths) or developed around the corner at the head of the block. The maisonettes adjoin the central corridor (1 crosswall width). At access level, they feature one room (kitchen with dining area, or bedroom with bathroom); on the level above or below, respectively, they offer a continuous living space (with kitchen or a generous sleeping area).
Drawings
Floor plan diagram, scale 1:500
Site plan
General layout 2nd / 3rd, 4th/5th, 6th/7th floors (starting at the bottom)
2nd floor: 4-room apt. A, scale 1:200
3rd floor: communal space B, 3-room duplex C (lower level), scale 1:200
4th floor: three 3-room duplex apts. C (upper level), D and E (lower level), scale 1:200
5th floor: two 3-room duplex apts. D and E (upper level), scale 1:200
6th floor: 2-room apt. F, 3-room duplex apt. D (lower level), communal terrace G (lower level), scale 1:200
Communal terrace G, 3-room duplex D, scale 1:200
Cross section
Photos
Street façade
Park façade
Originally published in: Oliver Heckmann, Friederike Schneider (eds.), Floor Plan Manual Housing, fourth revised and expanded edition, Birkhäuser, 2011.