New Kralingen builds on old neighborhoods and greenery

Being able to choose from your home: enter the bustling city or be immediately surrounded by nature. The residents of Nieuw Kralingen can do it. The new Rotterdam neighborhood is located on the edge of the Kralingen Forest and near the Kralingen Lake. Inspired by the old Kralingen neighborhood, TBI company ERA Contour and Heijmans are developing and building a diversity of homes with a romantic character, surrounded by greenery.

Meanwhile, the first homes have been completed. In a few years, about 800 should be realized. They will be built and sold in phases. For this, however, the Bosdreef, the original highway from Rotterdam to Utrecht, had to be moved first. According to urban planner Adriaan Geuze of West 8, this was an essential intervention to make Nieuw Kralingen possible. "Behind that road were business parks and the municipal nursery. By moving Bosdreef to the north, space was created here for a whole new neighborhood where all the streets end in the forest. And seen from the forest, the streets are green fingers running through the neighborhood." Job van Zomeren, director at ERA Contour, says: "The scale and location make New Kralingen unique. I am convinced that this area will become a beautiful and timeless Rotterdam neighborhood."

Variation and unity

The homes are being designed by four different architectural firms to create variety and at the same time unity. Says Geuze, "If you look at the old structures of Crooswijk and Kralingen, you see a romantic atmosphere created by a coherence in the color of the masonry, yet there are different styles. In New Kralingen, we chose consistency in beautiful masonry with three styles built interchangeably. As a result, you get a chic and warm image that you don't often see."

In the three styles chosen, we recognize inspiration from traditional Dutch houses with austere facades, interwar homes with graceful lines and organic forms and Dudokian, modernist homes. What they have in common is a beautiful entrance and a timeless look that will still stand decades from now. The large glass rear facades, ceiling heights of three meters, craftsmanship and attention to detail all contribute to the high quality of the new neighborhood.

Own identity

All streets are set up in such a way as to create a characteristic neighborhood that people are proud of. Van Zomeren: "In Nieuw Kralingen we are creating a neighborhood with its own identity. You can see this in the coherence in materials and the rich detailing. Neighborhoods with their own strong identity ensure that the residents love them. That strengthens the neighborhood feeling and thus the social bonding in the area."

"What we always uphold is quality and appearance. Even if the economy gets worse in the future, we're not going to shrivel up with a cheaper look," Geuze adds. "The experience we want to add is the most important thing and we're not going to tinker with that. It seems very simple, but deep thought went into the ecological structure, the connection with nature and the Kralingse Bos. The outdoor space is designed not only as a green ambiance, but also to ensure the ecosystem and sustainability."  

Nieuw Kralingen is a development by Ontwikkelcombinatie Nieuw Kralingen (OCNK), a partnership between Heijmans and TBI company ERA Contour. West 8, with OCNL, is responsible for the urban design. The architects involved are INBO, Braaksma & Roos, V8 Architects, Architectuur Maken and Hans van der Heijden Architecten for sustainable urban design.