De Boezem housing project

Construction has started on De Boezem, a new housing complex in Rotterdam on Boezemweg near Oostplein. Waaijer Projectrealisatie commissioned De Zwarte Hond to design the 80-apartment complex, which occupies a the site that had been vacant for years.

De Boezem comprises two volumes placed atop an underground car park. Facing Boezemweg, the building is seven storeys high. The lower storeys are orientated towards the street, while the upper floors reverse direction and view west towards the Rotterdam skyline. The second, lower volume adjoins the public garden behind. Between the two volumes is an enclosed courtyard – the dwellings in the lower three storeys are accessed from here. Dwellings in the upper four storeys of the higher volume are accessed from galleries that are elegantly integrated into the street-facing facade.

Intended for the upper-middle rental market, the apartments vary in size from 60 to 110m2. The use of brick and the concrete framework as well as the rectilinear facade grid connects well to the post-war architecture of the neighbourhood. Completion is planned for 2022.