A modern cluster of city houses in a historic urban fabric by Sputnik.
In the historic Delfshaven district of Rotterdam (The Netherlands), an exciting new housing project is recently completed named Achterhaven. The project, designed by Sputnik Architecture Urbanism Research from Rotterdam, is the result of a competition held in 2004 by Woonbron Housing Corporation.

Idea
Delfshaven was originally the Port City of Delft, and Woonbron requested a design that would fit into the historic context of the district.  Rather than applying a standard architectural approach of replicating the historic décor of the surrounding area into the new development, Sputnik took an urban approach which blended old with new. According to Sputnik, the reproduction of old facades does not lead to strong integration between existing and new developments, and is not necessarily cost-efficient. Considering the time, energy and  craftsmanship required to properly re-create historic facades, these historic replication projects rarely effectively re-create the beautiful canal house facades of the Dutch golden era.

Rather than focusing on Delft’s building facades, the urban structure of Delft stood as the model for the plan. The urban fabric of squares and alleys that is so characteristic of Delft and Delfshaven integrates Achterhaven seamlessly into the surrounding context.

"Nolli's map" reworked for Delfshaven
There is an interesting layering of public space in the city of Delft that is comparable to other historic town centres. Rather than having a strong partition between public and private spaces, historic town centres are full of semi-public spaces such as courtyards, alleys, and squares. These semi-private spaces can also include internal spaces such as in chapels, museums, galleries, and cafes and co-exist effortlessly next to houses, as extensions of the public space. Taking their cue from the mapmaker Nolli, who once drew a map of Rome showing the public space flowing into the interior of publicly-accessible buildings, the architectural historians of Crimson reworked Nolli's map for Historic Delfshaven. The difference between the open-blocked historic areas and the later-built areas of closed city blocks is striking. Sputnik took forward this idea of public space layering, including alleys and squares, as the urban solution for Achterhaven to relate the site to its historic counterpart across the harbour.  

Credits:
Client: Woonbron Delfshaven, Rotterdam
Design: Sputnik, architecture, urbanism, research bv, Rotterdam
Structural Engineering: Put bv, Rotterdam
Building Services Engineering: Nieman bv, Utrecht
Installations Engineering: Schreuder groep, Alkmaar
Renovation Architect: Walraad Architecten, Utrecht
Contractor: Martens aannemingsbedrijf, Lekkerkerk
Photo's: Ruben Dario Kleimeer