Waterstraat

This 1980s office building was transformed into a new apartment block. It was stripped right down to its concrete skeleton and rebuilt entirely according to Trias Energetica principles. The new high-spec insulated timber frame façade is fitted with a vertically articulated cladding. Each dwelling has its own balcony. Supplying the onlooker with a hint as to the new use of the building, these are strewn across the façade at random. Existing stairwells and lift banks were maintained and extended to the additional top floor, which is entirely covered in solar panels. Individual heating in apartments is gas-less. Situated on the divide between a housing estate with terraced houses and a large-scale industrial and hospital zone, the building articulates the transition. The grounds have a more ecological layout, with more trees for shade, more bushes and hedges for privacy and more open paving for buffering rainwater.