The Kanaalpark is an office area along the Vliet on the south side of Leiden. Here, two apartment buildings are being built for starters.
Many offices in this area have long been vacant and the area looks messy and dated. The municipality of Leiden has challenged developers to take the initiative to transform the site into a high-quality living-work area. That glove is being picked up. Some offices are being converted into apartments, others are being demolished and replaced by residential buildings. Viable office owners are making a quality improvement. The municipality has drawn up an ambitious plan for the redesign of the public space.
Commissioned by the Leidse Vastgoed Maatschappij we have designed two apartment buildings for starters on the labor market. Block 1 with 88 apartments is being built on the site of an old office building. Block 2 with 41 apartments will be built on an existing parking lot. The buildings have been carefully integrated into the urban design and complete the structure of closed building blocks. Height accents are determined in conjunction with the environment. The blocks are architecturally parceled, in line with the already completed housing construction.
| Architects | Gerrit-Jan van Rijswijk, Krijn Tabbers |
| Client(s) | Leidse Vastgoed Maatschappij |
The “Meerwijk” district in Schalkwijk, built in the 1960s, has been built on the corner of Bernadottelaan and Albert Schweizerlaan. This center is part of the urban design that was made by our office in 2001. The building with retail spaces, including the Vomar supermarket, an underground parking garage with 215 places and 74 apartments, is one of the sub-plans of the community center. The whole has a modern, transparent and friendly character and adapts well to the neighborhood.
A total of 269 houses and apartments are being built by various parties in the Stelt Zuid, part of the “Waalsprong” near Nijmegen. De Stelt Zuid occupies a special position as a green enclave between the village of Lent and the river. Four combinations of architectural firm and developer work together here on a new residential area, with a central orchard and the dike zone as structuring elements.
Commissioned by BPD, we made the design for 12 dike houses in the dike zone. The houses have a living area of approximately 190 m2 and all have a fantastic view from the living floor over the Waal and the city of Nijmegen. There is parking at the bottom of the houses, on the first floor the master bedroom, kitchen and backyard are situated on the dike, on the second floor the living room with a view of the Waal and the third floor can be set up as a sleeping and / or work space. The houses are gas-free and the roof is fitted with solar panels.
The height differences of the dike area are reflected in the gardens and the transition to the struing area along the dike. From the terrace of the houses you can walk towards the banks of the Waal.
The houses were put on sale in December 2019.
The plot Oeverpolder is located in the central part of the Hoornespolder, a 1960s reconstruction area. In recent years, this district has undergone a transformation, where living is more focused on the public space and a clearer separation is made between public and private.
In the design for the new-build location, a U-shaped courtyard building was chosen, which in terms of architecture and grain size connects to the existing buildings. The green structure of the neighborhood is reinforced with the design. The transition between the residential building and the public space has been carefully designed. There are no garages, storage rooms and blind facades in the public space. The U-shaped building contains a total of 52 apartments of 53-88 m2. The building on Hoorneslaan has 4 storeys, the other two sides are 3 storeys high. The houses are all accessible via (widened) galleries in the courtyard, parking is partly in the courtyard and partly on public land, on the street.
The masonry architecture is in line with previous transformations on Hoorneslaan, but also fits in well with the existing modern reconstruction architecture of, for example, the adjacent Pniëlkerk. Due to the sloping boundary of the plot on Hoorneslaan, the building block has been given characteristic staggered façades here. It is an all-round designed building that at the same time has a new and unique character, but also fits well in the neighborhood.
On a piece of wasteland in Leiden between the Lucebert Street and Toussaintkade an apartment building, ‘the Verleyding’ will rise this year. Construction started in March. In the building are 112 rental apartments for young professionals between 18 and 35 years. The properties are suitable for 1- or 2-person households, and have a surface of approximately 30 m2 (one-room apartment) and 45 m2 (two-room apartment).
The project is being developed and built by ten Brinke respectively Real Estate and ten Brinke Bouw. After realization the building owner will be SHWJ, Leiden. The housing design is tailored to the needs of SHWJ.
The building is 12 floors high and will become a landmark in Leiden. The area is bounded by the railway, a pond and a small park. On the park side the building stands on columns. Under the underpass, the entrance and lift are located. Together with the corridor access therefore an efficient plan has been realized, with 10 dwellings per floor. The upper apartments have stunning views over the city. The view can fully be enjoyed through the large windows. The ground level apartments have their own garden. Residents can cross a bridge over water to the park. Parking takes place on private property. The main body is constructed in a rhythm of frameworks of orange brick. The large frameworks ensure that the building looks less massive and joins well in the neighbourhood. The roof shape refers to the adjacent housing, it is finished with aluminium losagnes.
