Together with restoration contractor Burgy from Leiden, the back house, the garden house of the house at Garenmarkt 9 / 9a, has been completely restored and modernized. The new owner lives in this part. The front house with a number of apartments / studios for rent will remain unchanged for the time being.
The house at Garenmarkt 9, 9a is also popularly known as 'Thorbeckehuis'. The house has one of the largest private backyards in Leiden. In the Secret Annex, the garden house (No. 9a), the liberal statesman Johan Rudolph Thorbecke wrote in 1848 the revision of the Constitution, which turned our country into a constitutional monarchy. Thorbecke has lead three cabinets from 1849. A gable stone in the national monument reminds of the habitation by the liberal statesman and professor of law (1798-1872).
| Architects | Ronald Knappers |
"PURE LIVING"; the winning housing concept for the ‘Klop’ location in Alphen aan den Rijn
Together with Bemog Projectontwikkeling we have developed a vision for 3rd stage of this location in Alphen aan den Rijn. The location is the final piece of the residential area of Kerk en Zanen. It is located on the edge of the Green Heart, with beautiful sight lines on the polders. From the N11, the peripheral buildings will become the first sight of Alphen aan den Rijn.
A sustainable plan has been developed for this location (zero on the meter), which in terms of architecture fits seamlessly into the green environment. The 'Pure Living' concept consists of 40 terrace apartments, 20 water houses, 16 linked villas, a utility and neighborhood facility and a built-in parking facility. The peripheral buildings with the linked water houses and the two apartment buildings form the green boundary of the polder landscape of ‘het Groene Hart’. The greenery of the polder is visually extended into the buildings by giving each apartment its own (terrace) garden. The semi-detached villas are positioned in various ways and are adapted according to buyer's wishes.
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.
Villa Meijendel takes its name from the nature reserve in which it is located, where a forest meets a valley of dunes. The house is constructed from concrete and set into the side of a sandy slope. The building's design aims to create a dialogue with its surroundings, both through the way the form and materials engage with the landscape, and through the use of glass to provide views out from and into the house.
The boxy geometric structure is entirely clad in charred timber, creating a textured black surface that appears different depending on how sunlight falls on it. The exterior finish, inspired by the ancient Japanese shou sugi ban technique, also helps to preserve the wood. Sometimes the house is almost invisible against the dark edge of the forest, sometimes it sparkles in the sunlight because of the glittering charred wood, as such forming a background for the play of shadows of tree trunks and branches. The villa hides and reveals itself in the landscape.
The property has its entrance on a middle level accommodating an office and two bedrooms. Stairs ascend to an open-plan kitchen and living space, and drop down to a master bedroom and gym room.
The living room features a full-height corner window that looks out through the trees towards the dune valley. A lower window facing to the rear and a large glazed surface lining the adjacent double-height circulation area face out onto the forest. At the far end of the first floor, sliding glass doors lead out from the kitchen onto a terrace.
The material palette –concrete, steel and anodised aluminium– was chosen to complement the tones and textures of the surrounding environment. Each material is applied in a raw, untreated form. Internally, the walls are finished with smooth concrete, while the rough-sawn Douglas fir beams supporting the ceilings feature a distinctive grain.
West 8, Adriaan Geuze, is responsible for the garden design.
Photography is by Christian van der Kooy
Home and Living Mall Ekkersrijt is located on the north of Eindhoven, directly at the highway A50. In 2013 the existing shopping mall (21.000 sq.mtrs) has been extensively renovated and expanded with 24.000 sqr.mtrs.
New look and feel
The existing building was outdated and made up of separate buildings, with closed unattractive facades and entrances, shop windows only facing the courtyard. Experience and length of stay have been central themes to the renovation and expansion. The new complex has been given a contemporary, modern feel. Old, loose components and constructions are forged into a recognizable, homogeneous unit, which is easily visible from the public road. In addition, a pleasant living environment has been created for visitors. The original stores remained open during this major redevelopment. With intensive consultation and coordination between designer, consultants, tenants and builder the inconvenience during the construction has been limited to a minimum. With this transformation the center has been made future-proof.
Renovation
Existing shops have been given new facades to meet with the requirements of present times and to become one with the extension. Besides facades also the roof has been thoroughly upgraded and installations (among others sprinkler system) have been replaced, modernized. Signing is carefully incorporated and nowhere predominant.
Extension
The new building has a distinctive façade of metal with a specifically, laser cut pattern. Recessed into the façade are the neon signs and the ramps to the parking deck. The movements of the cars on the ramps provides extra dynamism in a natural way.
On the former courtyard a freestanding oval new shop building is made. This building forms the heart of the new home and living mall and is, due to its special design, an icon to the highway and nearby. From the parking deck visitors reach the heart through walkways and they go with elevators and escalators to the open and indoor malls on the lower levels of the complex. Shops on the upper floors thereby have the same run as on the ground floor. Because of the oval building shopping at ground level has a pleasant scale with shops on both sides.
