Strandweg Noord, Hoek van Holland • 2003 - 2007
Urban plan and design for 4 apartment blocks in the dunes with 104 apartments and an underground parking garage
Client: Nederlanse Bouwunie

has been nominated for the Rotterdam Bouwkwaliteitsprijs 2007

The Strandweg Noord location lies in a transition zone between the village and the dune landscape typical of this area. The starting point of the plan was that all apartments should benefit as much as possible from the view and from the sun, while the vista at ground level should not be impeded. The housing programme is accommodated in four small-scale urban villas that appear to float just above the dunes. They rest upon slender columns and have an entrance hall, made entirely of glass, more than 5 metres high. At night, the entrance halls are abundantly illuminated in order to reinforce the picture of buildings floating in the dunes.
To maintain the open character of the dune landscape, the buildings are accessed in pairs via a communal path, and an invisible subterranean car park has been built mutually linking the four apartment blocks. A car lift system ensures that each parking place has double capacity.
Each of the four blocks has 26 apartments that vary in dimensions and price. There are five apartments on the standard floor, four of which are corner apartments. Above this is a floor with four apartments and a set-back roof storey with two penthouses and large roof gardens. The ‘wet cells’ and the shafts for ducts and pipes have been concentrated around the central core of the building, in which the staircase and the lift are located. This configuration enables a flexible layout of the apartments. In the partitioning of the living space, the living rooms have been placed on the corners wherever possible, so that they allow a spectacular view out over the dunes.
The apartment blocks have a light and elegant allure. As a result of the set-back penthouses, the main volume seems to be restricted to five storeys. The façades are equipped with a light-coloured prefab concrete grid whose substantiation consists of recessed concrete parapets and wooden frames that are alternately furnished with glass and wooden panels. Movable strip sunblinds have been added to the façade at the loggias.