Urban Interface
Urban and concept architecture design for a residential block
- Category
- Architecture, Urbanism
- Year
- 2018
- Location
- Zoetermeer NL
- Size
- 0.95ha
- Program
- 35.000m2 - 50.000m2 residential (300 - 550 apartments) and 200 parking places
- Role
- Urban Designer
- Client
- Confidential
Coming from A12 highway, the location is situated at the very entrance to Zoetermeer. It is edged by two distinctive spatial conditions, infrastructure corridor coming from the highway, leading to the city canter from the east and a low-density neighbourhood from the west. Site as a transition zone that challenges any spatial proposal at translating the restlessness of the busy city infrastructure route to the tranquillity of a typical residential area.
We proposed a concept that formulates higher, more formal and closed urban front towards the infrastructure corridor at the east. As such, the front not only articulates the entrance to the city, but also acts as a barrier, solving the noise pollution issues coming from the intensive car traffic.
At the other side of the development, we propose a sequence of scaled down building volumes that define a more porous urban front that enables a more genuine integration of the existing and proposed open public space. As such, the edge of the block serves as an interface between the project and the adjacent residential neighbourhood.
Two scenarios are explored: open block with the integrated existing office building transformed into residential use and a scenario with two semi-open urban blocks.