"mediterranean" housing block in Rotterdam
"mediterranean" housing block in Rotterdam
Le Medi is a colourful enclave attracting a variety of different inhabitants, young families in particular. Its inclusive character is exceptional for its location, as the neighbourhood is dominated by immigrants. The project therefore contributes to the social and cultural development of the area.
Within the ambitious revitalisation of Rotterdam Bospolder, a building block inspired by the architecture from the countries around the Mediterranean Sea was initiated. Years of discussions and various preliminary schemes have resulted in a dense, colourful building block with several carefully defined semi-public spaces, and simple back-to-back dwellings with a covered parking garage on the ground floor and a formal square in the centre. The project hopes to offer a suitable place for people of various cultural backgrounds to live in. For that reason the scheme consists of a number of basic houses that sell for a small price and can be extended in the future.
| location: | Rotterdam Bospolder |
| design: | 2004-2006 |
| realisation: | 2008 |
| client: | Geurst & Schulze Architecten with Era/Com-wonen/Woonbron |
| contractor: | Era |
| photography: | Moritz Bernoully |
Architects Geurst&Schulze, responsible for the overall architectural and urban scheme, felt the need for architectural variety and decided to invite a second architect to participate in the project. Commissioned directly by Geurst&Schulze, we developed the design for a basic dwelling, together with several variants and extensions.
The plan of our house is inspired by some essential characteristics of Mediterranean domestic architecture: symmetry of the plan, direct relationship between inside and outside at ground level, equally sized rooms, additional window elements and light filtered by perforated screens in the façade.
Within the very narrow margins of the project, we attempted to rethink stereotypical solutions for conventional Dutch standard bay-width of 5.4 m and develop a floorplan without the typical, small, Dutch entrance hall or the conventional division of space into a wide bay and a narrow bay. Therefore, a central feature of the house is the spacious entrance accessed directly from the exterior and spanning the entire width of the house. It can be used as a reception room, a workspace, a kitchen, an office or a living room.
The design of the façade is a response to the colourful elevations of the dwelling designed by Geurst&Schulze and consists of a simple plastered surface framing a symmetrical piece of filigree masonry and a bay window.
