Achterhaven, 37 city houses

Following a trend of romancing neighborhoods from one or more centuries ago, Woonbron’s brief for the assignment had a strong emphasis on making a relation with the atmosphere of canals, quays and canal houses at the other side of the water of the Achterhaven, the atmosphere of Historic Delfshaven.

We asked ourselves if the sole recreation of the image of Historic Delfshaven would do justice to the neighboring blocks and streets and to the demands of contemporary urban house owners. We decided that the cost efficient reproduction of old facades doesn’t lead to a good integration of new and old, since nowadays the required time, energy and craftsmanship is hardly ever put into good quality recreation of the typical canal house facades of the dutch golden era.

Two little monumental houses in the Havenstraat were preserved/ rebuilt with their original materials and details.

Instead, the urban structure of Delft stood model for the plan. (Delfshaven was traditionally the port city of Delft.) It is characterized by its many alleys, courts, squares and quays and the mixed program in the buildings. On one street private houses and offices are neighbored by public functions like restaurants and bars, churches and galleries, etc..

Crimson Architecture Historians once made a graphic map of the public/private division in Historic Delfshaven as a reference to the famous map of Rome’s out- and indoor public spaces made by Giambattista Nolli. Crimson’s map showed a large summed up area of public access, both outside and inside buildings. We then extended that map to the rest of Delfshaven and showed how different the situation is at the large closed housing blocks in the area around our project site. In those blocks the public space stops dead at the front door, the inner courtyards are filled with private gardens only accessible for tenants and the streets are spaces meant only to move through, not to stay about.

By importing the urban fabric of Historic Delfshaven onto the project site we made our proposal independent from the architecture of the buildings themselves.

The blocks formed by the streets and squares are built of four quadrant houses: corner houses with a roof terrace. The entrances are in the alleys. The alley facades are bright white, with a distinct materialization and large windows. This makes the alleys into pleasant outdoor spaces. The alleys lead to the squares. These squares are above street level and will be semi-public in use. Each house has a privately owned terrace as part of the square. The facades at the squares are made of a sturdy red brick and wooden frames.