Project

Zichten is one of the largest transformation and densification locations in The Hague Southwest, built according to a master plan from the 1950s by Willem Martinus Dudok for Bouwlust peace lust. As part of the first development phase, we were asked to design one of the first 2 replacement building blocks based on a Palmbout image quality plan. The ambition is to develop a contemporary reinterpretation according to the characteristics of the existing architecture in Bouwlust-peacelust, with an articulated plinth in a red stone, a facade with a certain degree of plastic and a communal inner garden to replace the existing green.
The result is a carefully detailed social housing block with the appearance of a middle-class block in The Hague. The defining element is the typical combination of a protruding balcony with a deep negge and a large horizontal window. The repetition of this component as an urban detail creates a layered facade image in which the individual home is clearly legible.

Program

106 apartments arranged around a collective courtyard

Stages

2021 Preliminary Design (SO), 2021 Final Design (VO), 2022 aesthetic supervision

Team

MLA: Evert Dorresteijn, Emiel Koole, Jochem Kolthof, Sarah Wolf, Nazar Gresko, Andrea Bit
Project Partners: Palmbout (urban design), Swinn (structural engineering), Ifource (building services engineering), Nieman (fire safety), HFB (technical development)