The dynamic master plan for ZOHO is an affordable, sustainable and inclusive inner city transformation. Thus, the designers provide suitable solutions to the urgent urban challenges of our time. The plan will be realized from 2023 in the heart of Rotterdam.
ZOHO is an inner-city redevelopment in the Zomerhofkwartier in Rotterdam, containing around 600 homes in the social, mid-rental and private sector, as well as facilities. The urban plan by ECHO Urban Design provides for a division in three ‘layers’: the industrial ‘lab layer’, the green ‘land layer’ and the ‘urban layer’.
The stratification strategy of this urban plan focuses both on preserving the industrial character of the Zomerhofkwartier – a neighborhood in which people have always lived and worked. The ‘land layer’ above it is based on the radical greening of the district. A rooftop park will be realized in the adjacent part of ZOHO.
The block on Almondestraat will be incorporated into the existing building block. In this block, we designed six housing types for 31 homes. The 17 town houses of the ‘lab layer’ build on the industrial heritage in the area and have an active relationship with the street. The 14 apartments in the ‘land layer’ above have spacious terraces surrounded by green roof gardens.
In the lab layer, we strived for an active relationship between home and street, through a transparent facade that refers to the opposite facade of the Katshoek building by Hugh Maaskant. We therefore use a concrete frame with aluminium and glass panels inside.
The land layer in the block will be a lush roof landscape that extends over the entire length of the block – over 100 meters, which also includes water retention. The houses in the land layer are designed in such a way that they have an optimal relationship with the roof landscape through terraces and outdoor spaces – green living in the heart of the city. Here, the materialization consists of a red brick with deep-set windows and doors.
Our plan is part of the ZOHO tender the Leyten-Stebru combination won in 2019. Other blocks in this plan are being designed by Studio Nauta, Orange Architects and Moederscheim Moonen Architects.
Team
Daan Roggeveen, Ties Kweekel with:
Concept: Lina Peng
SO: Baptista Lopes, Morgane Garnier
VO, DO: Pedro Figueiredo Magalhaes, Carolina Pereira
Model: Nicolas Stanislas
Axo: Elodie Michel
Client: Leyten & Stebru
Urban Plan: ECHO Urban Design
Technical Design: INBO
Structure: S3
Installations: Nelissen
Contractor: Giesbers, Rotterdam
Concept: 2019
Design: 2020 – 2022
Start Construction: 2023
