Archinect - News

This double-curved roof house by Mecanoo is covered in slick multicolored tiles

2023-01-12T15:41:00-05:00

Mecanoo has designed a distinctive residence with a striking double-curved roof and ceramic tile-covered façade in Schoorl, a village in northern Holland.

Image: Ossip van Duivenbode, courtesy Mecanoo.

Called Villa BW, it spans three floors, with an additional level within the hood of the roof. The roof comes together through two overlapping shapes: a gable roof and a horizontal roofline. According to the design team, the structure adapts to its natural, sloping surroundings. On its southeast side, the connection with the landscape along the sloped garden is enhanced by enclosing two voids with a curtain wall system.

Image: Ossip van Duivenbode, courtesy Mecanoo.

The building’s custom multicolored ceramic tiling reflects the strong connection between the home and the landscape. Its colors, five shades of gray, green, and blue, represent the transitions in the landscape, such as the dune landsca...

PLP Architecture wins bid to design Holland's tallest timber and concrete tower

2020-01-02T21:20:00-05:00

The London-based architecture firm, PLP Architecture, recently won the international Delftseplein competition for its hybrid tower project known as "Tree House." The $177m (£137m/€160m) project will stand at 459 feet (140 meters) and will be constructed using mass timber and concrete materials.

Said to be the tallest hybrid structure in Holland, the tower will house 275 apartments in addition to other offerings such as office/co-working spaces, cafes, shops, and a restaurant that will sit on the tower's seventh floor.

"Tree House" project in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.. Image courtesy of PLP Architecture

The 37-story building was one of three competition finalists (along with UN Studio and Group A). According to PLP's project statement, "The building is being designed to stand at the forefront of architectural sustainability and will feature a part-timber structure with a concrete core, significant reused and recycled materials, rainwater collection and reuse and CO2 storage. Exter...

The Netherlands moves closer to leaving gas and diesel cars in the dust

2016-04-19T18:47:00-04:00

The parliament of The Netherlands has passed a motion which would require that all new cars sold by 2025 will have to be electrified in some way [...] The Dutch government hasn't yet banned gas and diesel-powered cars, however, and the motion does allow for hybrid cars to be sold beyond 2025. [...] Although localized governments have sought to ban public cars from urban streets in a number of European cities, the Dutch Labor Party's motion is by far the most aggressive campaign

Related on Archinect:

Inside the Dutch Village Where Everyone Has Dementia

2014-11-17T19:50:00-05:00

Dubbed “Dementia Village” by CNN, Hogewey is a cutting-edge elderly-care facility—roughly the size of 10 football fields—where residents are given the chance to live seemingly normal lives. With only 152 inhabitants, it’s run like a more benevolent version of The Truman Show [...] Last year, CNN reported that residents at Hogewey require fewer medications, eat better, live longer, and appear more joyful than those in standard elderly-care facilities.

Adapting to an unprecedented aging population means adjusting elder-care expectations and forms. So-called "Silver" architecture aims to address this growing population, but what about an urbanism of the elderly? Knowing that active social bonds can actually have long-term health benefits, why not "silver" urbanism?

How Holland can help fight floods around the world

2014-04-28T13:32:00-04:00

It’s initiatives such as this that have, in recent years, given the water engineers of Holland their almost mythical status amongst flood defenders the world over. After Hurricane Sandy hit New York, in 2012, the $20 billion protection plan that was subsequently instituted built upon principles that were pioneered by the Dutch. Officials from as far away as China, Vietnam, Thailand and Bangladesh are currently consulting Dutch experts.

Waterworld: Koen Olthuis' floating structures, from slums to stadiums

2013-08-29T14:17:00-04:00

[It] is the same technology as we use in Holland. It’s made up of concrete caisson, boxes, a shoebox of concrete. We fill them with styrofoam. So with [these] you get unthinkable floating foundations [...] The house itself is the same as a normal house, the same material. Then you want to figure out how to get water and electricity and remove sewage and use the same technology as cruise ships." - Koen Olthuis

Dutch architect Koen Olthuis sees the future of architecture floating out to sea -- quite literally. Responding to undeniable ecological shifts of rising sea levels and seasonal flooding, Olthuis has proposed floatable-projects all along the social spectrum, designing prefabricated multi-use units for waterfront slums in Dhaka, "amphibious" housing in Holland and Columbia, private island-villas for the "stupidly rich", and foldable Olympic stadiums.

See projects from Olthius' Waterstudio.NL, in the tradition of floating architecture inspired by Dutch history and worldwide realities.

'De Nieuwe Liefde' by Wiel Arets Architects

2011-05-02T20:11:00-04:00

Wiel Arets Architects have shared with us a recently completed renovation/restoration of a former wine storage warehouse located on the edge of Amsterdam’s 17th century UNESCO canal ring.

De Nieuwe Liefde (‘The New Love’) is a theatre and community centre located in a monumental white building on Amsterdam’s Da Costakade that was originally constructed in 1904 as storage space for a local wine company. After falling into disrepair, and in accordance with the last tenants leaving the property in 2007, the De Liefde was completely rebuilt by Wiel Arets Architects and renamed De Nieuwe Liefde. The reconstruction transformed the existing building into a series of new spaces composed of a main hall with seating for 230, a conference room with space for 60, a choir space for 50, a library, a separate restaurant-café and a grand foyer that decompresses into a central circulation void.

Prior to the renovation the building retained many of its original Neo-Renaissance and Art N...