Garden of North | Rotterdam

Former De Noordsingel Rotterdam prison complex gets residential use

'New construction in an old jacket'

The monumental, former prison complex De Noordsingel in Rotterdam is undergoing a major metamorphosis. The closed environment will become an open residential area with a green character and has been named Garden of North. The project is being carried out in five phases. BAM Wonen is involved in one of the phases as builder: the transformation of the former cell wings into 57 homes (phase 1).

The transformation of De Noordsingel into Garden of North will preserve as much as possible the appearance of the monumental cell wings, the chapel, the custodial houses, Hofpoort and women's wing. The house of detention will be largely demolished and replaced by new construction. BAM Wonen is involved in the Phase 1 work on the cell wings and the panopticon, say chief executive Kees van Leest and senior project manager Adrie de Bruijn. "This project was preceded by years of preparation in which we were also involved. Various options were discussed with the final destination being transformation into homes. Homes with contemporary comfort of course. It will be new construction in an old jacket."

Challenges in the existing environment
The Noordsingel - one of the oldest prison complexes in the Netherlands - was inaugurated in 1872; it closed in 2012. The facades of the cell wings, which contain all kinds of authentic elements, will be preserved as much as possible. The roofs also retain their former appearance. BAM Wonen has almost finished stripping the cellular wings, which will have a completely different layout. Installing new foundations and keeping the facades standing were two major challenges, Van Leest and De Bruijn point out. "The bearing capacity of the old foundation was not sufficient so new piles had to be installed. That is always difficult in an existing environment. In order to keep the existing facades standing, an extensive steel structure was installed beforehand to stabilize them."

Specific needs
Now that the stripping and demolition work is almost complete, work is shifting to the structural work, which includes the installation of housing partition walls and wide slab floors. Kees van Leest: "The four cell wings will contain a total of 57 homes in 10 different housing types. The largest will have four floors. Wing A will include homes for first-time buyers. Because all the homes in phase 1 have been sold and the buyers had a lot of room to implement specific wishes, we have to take them into account for each home." A great example, he says, is the possibility of having an element from the prison, such as a cell door, incorporated into the home. "The necessary buyers have taken advantage of that." BAM Wonen has started the structural work at wing B. The last homes of the first phase are expected to be delivered by the end of the year. 

Comprehensive construction project
Site accessibility is a challenge, notes Adrie de Bruijn. "With large transport through a residential area, that requires some thinking. A whole plan has been drawn up with various access routes, in cooperation with the municipality of Rotterdam. There have also been information meetings with local residents, there is a walk-in clinic once every two weeks, there is a website with up-to-date information and a phone number that people can call. All that is going well and many people find such a massive construction project interesting and come to take a look." They can come and do that for some time to come, he says. "We and the other parties will be here for a while. When it's finished, this will be a beautiful residential area that, in the final phase, will have a large courtyard garden, like the beguinages used to have, for example. An oasis of greenery and tranquility."