In this scheme an urban area in the city of Groningen, between the centre and the post-war development of Paddepoel, has been primed to receive an urban plan in which we have zoomed in on a building for living, work and leisure. The design takes its cue from current developments in society including a rapidly ageing population, the trend to individualization, the lack of public safety, and intercultural and changing lifestyles. It offers a greater flexibility in the way work is done, which means more freedom for the residents to combine living, working and recreation with their immediate surroundings. An important consideration here is the distinction between private, collective and public spaces and the transition from one to another.

A crop of urbanistic elements serves to stitch complex and context together. The easy-to-read infrastructural link with Paddepoel, the ground plane rising to the more elevated railway embankment and a channel linking it with the Reitdiep canal - all these fix the building on site. It reflects the new surroundings, so that the rooms and spaces each have their own ambience and identity. Diversity, mixes of function, potential link-ups and the many live/work typologies add up to a multi-faceted building.

Place of education: AvB Groningen
Specialization: architecture
Tutors: Rob Hoogendijk, Thijs Verburg, Wim van Vondel & Wicher van der Wal