Pisuissestraat

Loosduinen, The Netherlands
2000 - present

The urban site lies between the Pisuissestraat and the Aaltje Noorderwier straat in Loosduinen, a residential area of the Hague. The open triangle of land is enclosed by apartment buildings in the architectural style of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. The land is largely unused except for an occasional soccer game by the neighborhood children. Fenced in one corner are small private gardens that appear neglected. Vestia Scheveningen, a housing corporation, together with the developer Wilma Bouw is the client for the design of 64 homes. As is often the case, 30% of the residential units are designated as low cost subsidized units and 70% are considered relatively more expensive units to be sold at market rates.

To preserve its secluded nature, the new housing on the site is organized by eight narrow cul-de-sac streets that provide access to homes and maintain a pedestrian scale. The informal character of the proposed design is expressed in the simple details of the seven clusters of patio units. To reinforce their urban character, the patios are located alongside the semi-private access roads. Together with the curved apartment block, they form a tight-knit housing complex that does not feel like a development. Instead, the clusters of homes and patio apartments have individual character because of their sculptural design and interwoven arrangement of scale.
 

This modernist approach is further underscored in the curved apartment block consisting of a “wall” of stacked patio units flanked by townhouses. This tall linear element of the housing design provides a curved backdrop to the cluster homes and is a crucial ingredient to the urban quality of the master plan. The stacked patio units are in fact duplex apartments with double-high terraces. The terraces are generous roofed-over spaces of more than 20 square meters. These openings are positioned in an alternating pattern and generate views through the block imparting a sense of unique transparency. Furthermore, the apartments are oriented with their floor to ceiling windows facing the patio space, whereas the homes are relatively closed toward the street. This layout creates the best opportunities to incorporate the outdoor space as a natural extension of the indoor environment.