The house from the beginning of the 20th century was originally the staff residence of the adjacent main house “Malgre tout”. The main house and staff house are seen as examples of the development of country estates in the municipality. As an ensemble, the buildings and the surrounding gardens are of great cultural-historical value. The ensemble has the status of a national monument. The carefully detailed house is built in red brick under a thatched wolf roof. The staff house originally included a garage, horsestables and a driver's house.
In 2018, a design was made for the restoration and modernization of the service residence including a modern extension. A large living room and kitchen will be realized in the extension. A veranda will be added to the extension. Living room and veranda offer a view of a beautiful Hortensia garden. The extension is completely transparent on the side of the garden. On the other side, the extension is embraced by an openwork masonry wall. The wall becomes more transparent towards the edges. By using a heat pump installation with a source, high-quality insulation, and by completely filling the roof of the extension with solar panels, the service house will soon be completely energy neutral.
| Architects | Gerrit-Jan van Rijswijk |
In Wassenaar, 40 duplex houses owned by the housing association St. Willibrordus have been replaced by 86 social rental dwellings, primarily intended for starters and seniors.
The site of the new social housing lies within a village extension from the 1960s. At the time, this was the northernmost district of Wassenaar — spaciously laid out, with views over meadows and farmhouses. In designing the plan for the replacement housing, we built upon the core qualities of the existing neighborhood: generous street profiles, front gardens, and abundant greenery.
The new social housing is distributed across six buildings arranged around a shared courtyard garden. By removing the Stompwijckstraat that previously ran between the plots, space has been created to accommodate residents’ parking within the block, while also allowing room for the communal garden. Along this garden, a community facility has been incorporated.
The buildings feature a formal frontage with so-called ‘zoom dwellings’ on the ground floor — shallow homes with their entrance and a small front garden facing the street. The rear sides adjoin the parking area, which is located beneath an open, green deck. The existing tree structure of the area has been preserved. To ensure privacy for the front gardens, a green strip separates them from the sidewalk. The upper-level homes are accessed via wide external galleries.
The urban design was created by Studio VVKH. To ensure the buildings align in scale with the surrounding structures along the long streets, the façade of the top (third) floor is set back slightly from the building line. The balconies create a connection with the street and are subtly angled to optimize orientation toward the sun. On the northern park side, the buildings are more robust in character, with their height responding to the adjacent apartment block.
The plot Oeverpolder is located in the central part of the Hoornespolder, a 1960s reconstruction area. In recent years, this district has undergone a transformation, where living is more focused on the public space and a clearer separation is made between public and private.
In the design for the new-build location, a U-shaped courtyard building was chosen, which in terms of architecture and grain size connects to the existing buildings. The green structure of the neighborhood is reinforced with the design. The transition between the residential building and the public space has been carefully designed. There are no garages, storage rooms and blind facades in the public space. The U-shaped building contains a total of 52 apartments of 53-88 m2. The building on Hoorneslaan has 4 storeys, the other two sides are 3 storeys high. The houses are all accessible via (widened) galleries in the courtyard, parking is partly in the courtyard and partly on public land, on the street.
The masonry architecture is in line with previous transformations on Hoorneslaan, but also fits in well with the existing modern reconstruction architecture of, for example, the adjacent Pniëlkerk. Due to the sloping boundary of the plot on Hoorneslaan, the building block has been given characteristic staggered façades here. It is an all-round designed building that at the same time has a new and unique character, but also fits well in the neighborhood.
The “Villa van Bergenlaan” is located in Rijksdorp, Wassenaar, on the edge of a Natura 2000 protected area.
Situated along a dune ridge, it overlooks the Lentevreugd nature reserve. The villa is modest in expression, partially embedded into the dune, allowing it to become an integral part of the landscape. Energy for the house is generated from sun and air. Because the villa is partly underground, a hybrid structure of concrete and timber has been created.
The materials — including native oak, Fraké wood, concrete, and anodized aluminium — reveal their natural character; nothing is concealed, and in some cases the materials are given a special treatment, such as the wooden slat pattern cast into the concrete. The external façade, one to two storeys high, is clad in timber with concealed window frames.
Characteristic of the villa is the experience of light, space, materiality, and connection with the surrounding landscape. The villa is composed as a sequence of distinct spatial volumes — a modern interpretation of the “Raumplan” principle.
In close consultation with the municipality of Leiden, VVKH has developed an urban development plan for the redevelopment of two office buildings on Verbeekstraat in Leiden. What is currently a densely populated area dominated by cars will soon become a vibrant, green, and people-friendly residential area. In line with the municipality's high-rise vision, several buildings will be added along Plesmanlaan, creating a new cityscape along this access road to the city. Together with the developments at the Bio Science Campus on the opposite side of the road, this will create a new and innovative urban district.
