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GWL-SITE

K.W. CHRISTIAANSE, WEST 8 I.S.M. DIVERSE ARCHITECTEN, 1993-1997

Haarlemmerweg/Van Hallstraat e.o., Amsterdam

URBAN DESIGN:
Kees Christiaanse

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT:
West 8

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Dobbelaar De Kovel De Vroom
Willem Jan Neutelings
Kees Christiaanse
Meyer & Van Schooten
Liesbeth van der Pol

BUILDING TYPE:
Housing
Urban plans
Reuse

Blauwe Kamer 1999-4; de Architect 1995-5, 1997-11, 1998-9; Archis 1996-5; Archithese 1997-3; Bauwelt 1999 p.2146; Jaarboek 1998-1999; K. Christiaanse (red.) - Kees Christiaanse, 1999; H. Ibelings - Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten deel 1, 2001; Aan het Werk, Neutelings Riedijk Architecten, 2003; K. Christiaanse e.a. - Situation KCAP, Rotterdam, Basel 2005

RELATED BUILDINGS:
Housing, Urban Design (Meyer & Van Schooten)
Housing, Urban Design (Neutelings Riedijk)
Housing, Urban Design (Zeinstra Van der Pol)
Housing, Urban Design (DKV)
Housing, Urban Design (KCAP)

A compact 'eco-estate' of 600 houses of great diversity now occupies the former site of the Municipal Water Board. A number of the original company buildings were retained, together with the water tower. Two long, meandering apartment buildings lie along the edges of the estate. The central area is dotted with small discrete blocks scaled to the adjoining existing development and sited so as to guarantee a number of essential lines of vision. The open space between the blocks has been given the maximum 'green' treatment. Privet hedges draw the gardens, allotments, playgrounds and facilities together into 'islands' whose limits are well-defined in places and more flexible in others. The blocks were allocated to five architects to flesh out. These turned to new solutions particularly as regards unit access. Neutelings' block takes the ground access principle to an extreme, with all 15 units of the six split-level storeys reached from a raised external gallery on the first floor. Meyer & Van Schooten experiment with raised central walkways. In one of the tall peripheral blocks Kees Christiaanse suspends a 'living-street' at fifth-floor level. DKV for their part slot double-height 'patio gardens' into the western peripheral block and add a string of gardens on its gently raked roof.