Collective housing Veemarkt

Utrecht (NL)

For a competition about housing on a left-over industrial area in Utrecht, we invited three families to join our design process. This approach resulted a very inspiring and joyful process and in very useful guidelines. Together we concluded that the ideal size of group would be 20 to 30 families, diverse in age and family size. The final design consisted of a housing block with 30 attached family houses around a collective garden, and with various indoor and outdoor collective facilities where the diverse inhabitants can practise their professions and hobbies. For the houses we used a modular building system of wooden columns, beams and floors, on a grid of 4x4 meters, with lots of possibilities for individual diversifications of floor plans and facades. For both the collective process and the aesthetic and friendly design, we received an honourable mention.

Competition entry Veemarkt Utrecht | Location: Veemarkt area in Utrecht NL | Program: 30 individual houses within 1 building method, collective parking and collective garden | Client: 3 families with individual wishes | Architects: Menno Trautwein, Jan Verberne, Bart Duvekot | Period: 2011-2012