Samenvatting

Within the confines of a traditional, longitudinal and narrow housing block in Rotterdam-West, this project proposes a double-sided, permeable and dynamic living environment for students and young professionals. Shared facilities foster community life, while also generating work opportunities and relationships with the neighborhood. Functions in the plinth like a café-diner and meeting space form self-contained spaces, alternating with ample passageways to the green courtyard and the street beyond. This public space extends to the upper floor by means of stairs and bridges, where greenhouses serve food production and facilitate energy and water supplies. The living units on the intermediate floors at each side of the complex are internally connected, whereas wide galleries and the aforementioned stairs and bridges also connect both sides of the complex and the courtyard in-between. The layered composition of alternating ground volumes with passageways, the middle block with staggered living units, and the light and transparent glass rooftop, expresses an organic whole, and ties in with the urban fabric with openness and connectivity. As an interactive hub, this permeable architecture improves the spatial quality of the urban block, encourages encounters and shared activities, and supports a more resilient urban community.