De Boezem

Rotterdam, NL

Can you live quietly along a busy street?

Rotterdam

De Boezem

De Boezem is 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 site that had been vacant for years.

The building block is filling the existing void

De Boezem fits in with the neighbouring buildings in its construction

The facade construction is characterized by a plinth

Accessibility: balconies & community garden facing southwest and conservatories galleries (3rd-6th floor)

Greenery: planters on the street, interior area and public garden

Exterior spaces: balconies, loggias to public garden & conservatories to street

Accessibility: vertical, gallery above inner area and gallery on street side

The residential building consists of two volumes, with an enclosed courtyard between them. The seven-storey volume on the Boezemweg blends into the continuity of the street wall. A distinctive feature is the careful incorporation of the gallery at the front. The volume behind it has three storeys and ties in with the smaller scale of the neighbourhood.

The Boezem is accessed in different ways. All flats have their main entrance on Boezemweg, with the ground-floor flats also accessible from the private courtyard garden. The top four floors on Boezemweg are accessed by a gallery subtly incorporated into the street facade behind a screen of prefabricated brickwork.

An enclosed courtyard offers privacy and space for meetings

The building exudes the powerful simplicity of Rotterdam’s reconstruction architecture with its austere, rhythmic facade articulation and use of concrete and brick. The high plinth along Boezemweg blends in with urban life. The lower three floors of the volume face the street, while residents can enjoy views of the Rotterdam skyline from the upper floors.

The complex comprises a mix of sustainable short-stay and long-stay flats, with floor areas ranging from 60 to 130 m2, all of which have energy label A++. The short-stay flats are fully furnished and unfurnished and are operated by B-Right Urban Living.

Cross section

First floor

Second floor

Third floor

De Boezem

On De Boezem, a new housing complex in Rotterdam on Boezemweg near Oostplein a new housing project will be realized. Waaijer Projectrealisatie commissioned De Zwarte Hond to design the 80-apartment complex, which occupies a 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 110 m2. 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.

details

Project
De Boezem: Location
Rotterdam, NL: Size
10.429 m²: Period
2015-2022: Client
Waaijer Projectrealisatie

Discipline
Architecture: Program
Residential: Status
Completed: Photography
Ronald Tilleman, Saartje Nibbering

Awards
Future House Awards Social Housing & Community Living: More info
bd@dezwartehond.nl