LIEVEN DE KEY, HILVERSUM

NEW TYPOLOGY | INTELLIGENT INTENSIFICATION | DENSITY | SPATIAL CONTINUITY | FUNCTIONAL MIX | SUSTAINABLE | SOCIAL COHESION | MA-SSA MEANINGFUL EMPTINESS 

Location

Hilversum

 
Description

80 Houses, schools, sports accomodation, health caren institutions 

Client

Gemeente Hilversum and De Alliantie Ontwikkeling

 
Completion

2002 Unbuilt

 

POWER OF EMPTINESS

 

Lieven de Key is a redevelopment site in Hilversum North. It is currently occupied by pre-vocational and primary schools that will be replaced by a complex of buildings with numerous occupants and functions, among them housing, a care institution and social amenities. Although this suggests a large-scale plan, the aim has actually been to blend the new development harmoniously with the surrounding small-scale 1960s residential development set in plenty of greenery.

The design features two plan components: the community aspect of the whole entity, and the individuality of each piece. To that end, cohesion between functions is essential.

Communal areas are located partly underground and woven together. Patios and rooflights draw daylight and outdoor space inside. Above ground, public gardens feature small blocks for the various institutions and residential units. Skilful positioning of these volumes ensures optimal exposure to the sun and a multitude of perspectives across the site.

 Emptiness is an important compositional tool in the design. Built and unbuilt are equal in form and scale, allowing the landscape and buildings to merge seamlessly. Accordingly, the design heightens various contrasts: density-openness, connection-division, built-unbuilt, collective-individual. In its elaboration, the aim of the design is to find points where simplicity and abstraction intersect with the human dimension.