In Wassenaar, 40 duplex houses owned by the housing association St. Willibrordus have been replaced by 86 social rental dwellings, primarily intended for starters and seniors.
The site of the new social housing lies within a village extension from the 1960s. At the time, this was the northernmost district of Wassenaar — spaciously laid out, with views over meadows and farmhouses. In designing the plan for the replacement housing, we built upon the core qualities of the existing neighborhood: generous street profiles, front gardens, and abundant greenery.
The new social housing is distributed across six buildings arranged around a shared courtyard garden. By removing the Stompwijckstraat that previously ran between the plots, space has been created to accommodate residents’ parking within the block, while also allowing room for the communal garden. Along this garden, a community facility has been incorporated.
The buildings feature a formal frontage with so-called ‘zoom dwellings’ on the ground floor — shallow homes with their entrance and a small front garden facing the street. The rear sides adjoin the parking area, which is located beneath an open, green deck. The existing tree structure of the area has been preserved. To ensure privacy for the front gardens, a green strip separates them from the sidewalk. The upper-level homes are accessed via wide external galleries.
The urban design was created by Studio VVKH. To ensure the buildings align in scale with the surrounding structures along the long streets, the façade of the top (third) floor is set back slightly from the building line. The balconies create a connection with the street and are subtly angled to optimize orientation toward the sun. On the northern park side, the buildings are more robust in character, with their height responding to the adjacent apartment block.
| Architects | Thomas Gillet, Gerrit-Jan van Rijswijk |
| Client(s) | Housing association St. Willibrordus |
"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 house from the beginning of the 20th century was originally the staff residence of the adjacent main house “Malgre tout”. The main house and staff house are seen as examples of the development of country estates in the municipality. As an ensemble, the buildings and the surrounding gardens are of great cultural-historical value. The ensemble has the status of a national monument. The carefully detailed house is built in red brick under a thatched wolf roof. The staff house originally included a garage, horsestables and a driver's house.
In 2018, a design was made for the restoration and modernization of the service residence including a modern extension. A large living room and kitchen will be realized in the extension. A veranda will be added to the extension. Living room and veranda offer a view of a beautiful Hortensia garden. The extension is completely transparent on the side of the garden. On the other side, the extension is embraced by an openwork masonry wall. The wall becomes more transparent towards the edges. By using a heat pump installation with a source, high-quality insulation, and by completely filling the roof of the extension with solar panels, the service house will soon be completely energy neutral.
In close consultation with the municipality of Leiden, VVKH has developed an urban development plan for the redevelopment of two office buildings on Verbeekstraat in Leiden. What is currently a densely populated area dominated by cars will soon become a vibrant, green, and people-friendly residential area. In line with the municipality's high-rise vision, several buildings will be added along Plesmanlaan, creating a new cityscape along this access road to the city. Together with the developments at the Bio Science Campus on the opposite side of the road, this will create a new and innovative urban district.
In the summer of 2024, the municipality of Leiden launched an ideas competition for the Second Green Ring. Following the success of the Singelpark around the historic city center, the idea emerged to connect the parks and waterways along the city’s edge into one continuous whole — a green-blue ring where residents of the densely built city can recreate, exercise, experience nature, and meet one another.
Studio VVKH, together with partners in the fields of landscape architecture, water management, ecology, and industrial design, submitted a vision titled ‘Het Leidse Lint’ (“The Leiden Ribbon”). With this vision, we were among the three finalists invited to present their plans to a broad jury in March of this year. The citizens of Leiden were also able to view the proposals and share their opinions.
Our submission achieved second place. The winning proposal was ‘Panoramapark’ by Polyfern. We are proud of this result and greatly enjoyed developing our ideas for the city. The importance of outdoor space — for people, plants, and animals alike — will increasingly come to the forefront of design at all scales in the years ahead.
You can download the presentation boards of ‘Het Leidse Lint’ here.
The design team consisted of:
VVKH, Jan Maurits van Linge (landscape office Xi-ontwerp), Simon Akaya (npk design), Yasmin Stip (Stip werkt), Harma van der Meer (TU Delft), and *Ada Jaśkowiec.
