After the previous buildings were demolished in the late 1960's, it took 30 years to realise a new development on the north side of the Haarlemmerplein. The new block consists of 69 apartments (a third of which is social housing), commercial spaces on the ground floor, and a four-storey underground car park.
The placement and partitioning of the former urban block structure were the starting points for the design. The city council asked for a nuanced approach to the new building volume and its architecture. At the same time, the building should have a singular identity.
The design is based on the original 17th century spatial organisation, dividing the shallow volume along the square into narrow lots. The new design needed to consider and eliminate the noise levels of the adjacent railway tracks and motorways. To this end, the walls separating the houses inside the compact block follow the pattern of the old plot.
Three courtyards bring daylight into the apartments, while minimising noise entering through the facades. The position of the courtyards and the alternating building height within the block, provide the vast majority of the homes with views onto the square.