“A TYPOLOGY BEYOND THE ROW HOUSE”

Pauwenven, a beautiful area in Zaandam which previously functioned as an educational district, is now being redeveloped into a zone for land-bound living. With sustaining the recognisable green character of the neighbourhood as a starting point, we kicked-off the design led by a courtyard-typology. It’s a typology we have enjoyed researching and experimenting with in the past. This time we reinvented the typology to suit the needs of a mixed audience. Our goal? To create a living environment which is comfortable for both elderly and families. The result? 29 family houses and 14 senior homes.

To redevelop the area and at the same time ensure a high quality of life, we looked into which aspects play a specific role when designing a living environment which enables a strong sense of community. The scale of each of the individual fields allowed us to bring together the concept of community, encourage the connection between the different dwellers and this way create diversity within the new neighbourhood. Smart transitions from public to private space and the design of hybrid zones are there to assure the high quality of life we mentioned before.

Three different types of homes were designed to guarantee that the individual needs of the diverse group of dwellers are looked after. We created a space for the elderly, families and singles. For the elderly this means a home with one and a half floor plus a bedroom on the ground floor. The families are housed in bigger homes with three floors connected to a green park inclusive of a playground.

Despite the different needs of the inhabitants, we have managed to create a uniform look with communal details. The brick facades are carefully designed with a high quality brick in two different masonry bonds. The architectural detail that was chosen, connects the different buildings with each other by applying the same concrete strokes on the facades.

Facts & Figures

Design: bureau SLA, Amsterdam
Client: Gemeente Zaandam, Stevast Baas & Groen

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