Sphinx Rebirth

Competition proposal for an abandoned factory area in Maastricht the Netherlands. An old storage building is transformed into an apartment complex and extended with a new L-shaped building.

The nearby street with car traffic is a source of noise pollution. The facade towards this street is designed specifically to deal with this problem. For our block we designed a facade that’s friendly, has a good sound insulation and shows the history of the site in a whimsical manner.

The existing factory wall is remained and behind an above that arises the facade of the new block. The facade of housing block is materialized of spherical shaped elements, of Ceramic that link to the past of the old ceramic industry of Sphinx, and of recycled plastic windows to allow a great transparency.

The facade of the block is not a straight facade but curves from the given plot to above the existing factory wall. Like a flower finding its optimal space to grow.

Sustainability

As part of a sustainable environment the following elements are taken into the design:

- All the housing units are well insulated. Also the existing building gets a new facade wrapped around the existing structure. This avoids thermal bridges in the construction (which is currently visible in the facade).

- To the south all the units have a large class surface for allowing direct sunlight in winter, allowing to heat the interior naturally. A cantilever of the floors (roofs) create a shadow inside avoiding the necessity of cooling in the summer.

- The existing building gets a green roof, the new block green balustrades.

- Remaining rain water is captured and used for flushing the toilets and providing the washing machines with water.

- The new block and the glasshouses on top of the existing building all get solar panels in the roof orientated towards the South.  

- The parking garage gets extra voids in the roof for natural daylight penetration and natural ventilation.

- The existing building is re-used.

- The buildings are, installation wise, connected to Maastrichts district heating.

Urban green

The collective garden in the center of the plot is designed as a social binder for the future residents. This where kids can play and adults can relax, BBQ and socialize. All the residents have access to the collective space. A maximum of housing units are directly linked to the inner garden on the ground floor. This is why we designed maisonettes on the ground floor, to have a maximum physical connection between the housing units and the garden, while maintaining a healthy amount of privacy towards the residents.

Design:       Ramon Knoester in collaboration with Judith Egberink and

                 Gerben Vos

Location:     Maastricht, the Netherlands

Program:     14 maisonettes and 42 apartments with parking garage

M2:            1057m2 GFA (footprint)

Period:        2009