Impressive residential building with frivolous elements

Wildenburg, Rotterdam

Surprise, change, amaze. These core themes of STUDIO - NL become nicely visible in project Wildenburg in Rotterdam. "As a young and driven architectural firm, we succeeded in bringing this project - within the urban planning constraints - to a technically and economically feasible case," says Ruben ter Harmsel, architect and owner of STUDIO - NL. "Without sacrificing special, frivolous and non-ordinary elements, which continually amaze and surprise residents, visitors and passers-by."

"My partner Rogier Dommeck and I have extensive experience in social housing construction," Ter Harmsel says. "In recent years we have carried out various projects in Germany and the Netherlands. Ten Brinke has always run through these as a common thread." Through this contractor, the site on the Wildenburg also came into the picture. "With a clever access structure and an alternative housing typology - with one less storey, a different stacking and a new typology on the first floor - combined with a green facade in the rear wall, we managed to develop a new model and feasible case, while also meeting all the urban planning preconditions."

One building block, three wings

"Project Wildenburg was developed as one building block with a west wing on the Wildenburg, a south wing on the Denenburg and a north wing on the Keyenburg and accommodates 110 social rental apartments for Hef Wonen," Ter Harmsel says. "The building slopes from six stories (seven storeys) on the Wildenburg to three stories (four storeys) on the Denenburg and Keyenburg. In the courtyard between these buildings, we incorporated the green spaces, parking and storage areas, with a large courtyard garden on the roof of the storage areas."

Strengthen stamp and green structures

STUDIO - NL has designed and justified within the framework of the urban planning plot from the initial stages, he says. "In doing so, we worked intensively with urban designer Tjerk Wobbes of the Municipality of Rotterdam." The building volume was fixed in advance. "Moreover, in terms of the stamp structure we had to connect to the adjacent Klinkenburg and further strengthen the green structures in the neighborhood. In addition, intensive discussions were held on how the residential plinth should function at ground level."

Encourage spontaneous encounters

"In this project, we faced a feasibility issue and a parking issue," Ter Harmsel said. "For example, we couldn't make a deck on the interior area. So how could we still use extra greenery?" In response, the green facade was created. "Instead of horizontal greenery, we very deliberately chose vertical greenery, which also adds value to the experience of the residents of Klinkenburg." Behind the green facade is a beautiful roof landscape, which connects to somewhat wider living galleries on the second floor. "Those living galleries were deliberately kept wide so that the walkways from the storerooms, elevators and stairwells could also be accessed on them. This encourages spontaneous encounters." The loggias of the apartments were additionally designed on the living galleries. "This perfectly meets the requirements of the Building Code and French balconies were sufficient on the public (noise) side of the building."

Frivolous effect

"The entrance areas feature mineral facades with Ecoshapes by Sto Isoned, in organic green forms," Ter Harmsel says. "This creates a frivolous entrance effect. For the facade finishes, we very consistently chose a fine material palette with light yellow (beige) facade bricks and Pyrite plastic window frames with an anodized effect. These window frames not only harmonize very nicely with the beige-yellow stone, but also contrast excellently with the brown-red and green interior area."