The plan ‘de Biezenhof’ is part of the new residential area ‘Waterrijk Woerden’ and is situated along a natural watery region. The urban scheme of ‘Waterrijk Woerden’ was designed by West 8 and refers to the traditional Dutch water cities such as Delft and Leiden. The design is made in collabiation with Klunder architects. Almost every dwelling is individual and has a specific connection to the water.
The plan of Biezenhof is divided in two parts: there is one block of family houses around a courtyard on the edge of the lake, and there is a row of water houses and apartments along a canal.
The buyers of the houses could choose between several types of houses as well as between four architects. Due to the possibilities in combining type and architect, not one house is the same. Every house has a singular character: the lake houses have a beautiful view on the lake, the street houses have a garden, and the canal houses enclose big terraces. In the public space there are a few parking places, the majority of parking places are organised in garages.
The houses designed by Knappers are characteristic because of the huge roof overhanging the façade. This contributes to the shelter-against-the water identity of the houses, and refers to the greenhouse glass constructions in the low lands. At the street side these houses are made of brick, which gives them a closed and open (to the light and the water) individuality.
| Architects | Ronald Knappers, Krijn Tabbers |
Housing association St. Willibrordus wants to renew 40 duplex houses along Stompwijckstraat in Wassenaar. The program provides for the realization of 86 social rental homes, mainly for starters and seniors. The plan area is located in a village extension from the 1960s. At the time of completion, this was the northernmost district of Wassenaar and it overlooked the meadows and farms. The district is spacious with a focus on greenery. In the development of the plan, we link up with the basic qualities of the neighborhood with spacious profiles with front gardens and lots of greenery. In order to be able to make the closed building block, the Stompwijckstraat in between will be removed. This provides space to solve parking for residents within the building block. The plan also provides for a communal courtyard with a social facility adjacent to it.
To create privacy in the front gardens, we create a green strip between the front gardens and the sidewalk that remains the property of the municipality. The existing structure of mature trees will be maintained. There is a distinction between a formal front, with zoom houses on the ground floor all around that are accessible from the street side, and an informal rear with parking under an open green deck (through which existing large trees protrude) and the access to the houses on the upper floors. through wide galleries. In the long streets, the building blocks match in scale with the buildings on the overlying because the top (third) storey has a setback in relation to the building line. On three sides of the building block, the balconies of the houses on the upper floors hang from the building blocks as ornaments. The balconies provide contact with the street and respond to the orientation with respect to the sun by means of a rotation and still show the echo of the current situation. The building block responds somewhat more robustly to the northern park side. On the northwest side, one of the blocks reacts in height to the adjacent apartment building.
The ‘Oud Woelwijk’ farm, the oldest part of which dates from before 1528, was still standing at the beginning of the 20th century in a sea of lands and bushes to the south of the village center of Voorschoten. The farm formed an ensemble with the country estate of Roucoop. The country estate no longer exists, and from 1930 the built-up area has been advanced. Yet the Essenlaan is still a protected leafy lane that leads to the old farm. For a plot directly on the other side of the farm, we have made a design for a contemporary energy-neutral home. The single-storey house with hood is designed as an outbuilding of the farm. You reach the plot via a bridge that cuts through the historic woods at a clever location. A very spacious home has been designed partly due to a number of voids. The volume is still closed on the farm side. On the south side, the house opens to the large garden.
Alexandrium is made of 35.000m² megastores and 65.000m² home and living mall. The assignment was approved after winning the architectural competition and was build in two fases. Important aspect for winning te competition was the incorporation of the existing polderhuis, which seems to be placed in a window of the new mall.
In cooperation with Smits bouwbedrijf, VVKH has won the european tender to develop a new housingarea in district Dieperhout in Leiden. The project consists of 48 dwellings, 12 apartments and a care facility of 1500m². Start of the constructionwork is planned in may 2015, because thats when a current school will move to a new building and the site will be available.
