parkstad, Rotterdam

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Our plan for Block I, Bostuin, extends the green backbone of Parkstad right down into the very capillaries of the building block. A total of 167 dwellings, featuring a wide range of housing types, are grouped around the Bostuin, which is a genuine forest on a bed of earth. It is a forest garden where residents can meet one another, children can play safely, and food and greenery enliven the housing experience in an easy manner.

The Bostuin plan embodies the contrast between the park and the city. Along the border between the dynamism of the vibrant city and the serenity of a lush garden, the families of structures form a coherent urban block. Metropolitan in character with tall accents on Laan op Zuid and greater emphasis on the human dimension and scale of Afrikaanderwijk along Hilledijk and Karakterpark.

The Bostuin plan embodies the contrast between the park and the city. Along the edge between the dynamism of the vibrant city and the serenity of a lush garden, the families of structures form a coherent urban block

Just imagine: an edible park where you can relax while enjoying freshly picked berries or nuts. The forest garden, a landscape laid out as a natural ecosystem, focuses on the production of food and other produce useful to people. The Bostuin is a collective courtyard for residents, but designed in such a way that it can also be a place of significance for the neighbourhood. The forest garden can open up to the neighbourhood so that locals can come and pick blackberries on a Saturday morning in summer. Or a class of schoolchildren can drop by for a lesson in nature education in the convivial living room.

To experience the unique living quality of the Bostuin to the full, functions such as storage units and car parking are kept out of view in a half-sunken interior street around the garden. Making smart use of the height differences in the landscape ensures natural light and ventilation in the interior street. Here you can go for a stroll or a jog, while cars are of secondary importance, like in a pedestrian area. Above the interior street are the terraces of the single-family homes. The sloping landscape physically and visually connects the forest garden, terraces and interior street to one another in a natural way.

Just imagine: an edible park where you can relax while enjoying freshly picked berries or nuts. The forest garden, a landscape laid out as a natural ecosystem

The Bostuin adds a variety of housing types to Parkstad. A total of 167 dwellings, including family homes with gardens, so-called ‘upstairs-downstairs dwellings’, compact apartments for singles and seniors, and spacious family apartments. Great attention has been paid to the distribution of the housing types across the plan. Townhouses are positioned between upstairs-downstairs dwellings and apartment blocks. The common denominator of the plan is that each dwelling has a relationship with the Bostuin.

The plan reinterprets themes that characterize the architecture of the Afrikaanderwijk district. Families of structures, special accents at corners, differentiation in concrete plinths, attention for edge details and special elements in facades such as bay windows and balcony railings feature in the plan. In addition, the design along Laan op Zuid matches the scale of the new developments of Feyenoord City.

The common denominator of the plan is that each dwelling has a relationship with the Bostuin.

The brickwork of all facades weaves patterns in a grid structure. Depending on the position, the grid can be either horizontally or vertically oriented. The blocks are articulated in sandy-brown shades to highlight the variety of buildings along the street, without detracting from the overall composition.  The fifth facade, the rooftop, plays an important role in achieving the integral sustainability targets, but it is also activated for use. Placed on the roof of the block between the tall structures on Laan op Zuid is a collective vegetable garden with a greenhouse, accessible by lift from the central hall beside the living room. The greenhouse is visible from Laan op Zuid and offers a hint of the forest garden from the street. The roofs of the lower blocks feature wild vegetation or solar panels combined with a green roof.

The greenhouse is visible from Laan op Zuid and offers a hint of the forest garden from the street. The roofs of the lower blocks feature wild vegetation or solar panels combined with a green roof.
Project Details
  • Site
  • Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  • Client
  • Nederlandse Bouw Unie
  • Design
  • 2020
  • Size
  • 26.500 m2
  • Program
  • Housing
  • Assignment
  • Competition
  • Team
  • Patrick Meijers, Jeroen Schipper, Martha Castillo Riasco, Dirk Hovens, Dirk Jansen, Paul Kierkels, Tess Landsman, Julija Osipenko
  • Collaboration
  • Studio AAAN, MAAK space, Merosch
  • Urban Planner
  • Dienst Stedenbouw Rotterdam
  • Visuals
  • YuconVR
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