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Utrecht, NL

De Kwekerij phase 2

In the east of Utrecht on the former KPN-plot, Jebber is developing De Kwekerij; a vibrant campus for approximately a thousand residents. Here, Arons and Gelauff Architecten has designed six colourful, slender residentials towers for young professionals. The ensemble houses 244 apartments and has recently been taken under construction by Dura Vermeer.

All towers are gathered and lifted onto a plinth which provides communal areas such as a bicycle workshop, a small cold-war museum, a café, restaurant and an office for the developer of the project, Jebber. The varying heights of the towers provide optimal sunlight on the campus. For the design of the towers, we have used elementary means. By rotating the towers and adding a different colour to each of them, a lively illustration is created. In addition, the facades tie in with the landscape design bij TLE. “The façade colours are based on the seasonal flowers of the tree species which are planted around the buildings, thus creating a beautiful coming together of greenery and buildings.”

Corner houses

All towers have the same slanted floor plan with 4 apartments of 45 m2 for young professionals. Hence, every apartment is a corner house with morning, afternoon and evening sunlight. In addition, the corner location offers all apartments a sheltered side; a façade that has minimal noise pollution from the surrounding main roads.

Bunker

For the design of De Kwekerij, special thought has been given to the entire life cycle of the buildings. The colourful façade is maintenance free, modular and can be dismantled. The interior is formed by a prefabricated wet core which contains all the necessary installations. The supporting structure is constructed is such a way that in future apartment can be joined together. The towers are designed without installations in the load-bearing floors and walls so that at the end of the life cycle the concrete can be recycled. Something particular about the project is that we have been able to avoid the underground nuclear bunker from being demolished. By lifting the lid and using the space for buffering rainwater, a rainproof project has been created. The layout of the bunker can surprisingly still be seen when gazing into the pond where certain rooms are planted and others have a terrace deck. The bunker pond will be the hart of the campus.

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