Design:
Facing brick
Processing:
thin joint - 1/3 bond
Text: Bouwen met Baksteen
Photos: © Cafeine
A façade structure full of contrast thanks to yellow brown Nature7 Brick V
Modern apartment building with clever design
The apartment building was built on a very narrow plot which forms a transition between a large building from the 1960s and a typical corner lot in an authentic side street of the ring road. Due to the protection of historic buildings and the cohesion of this side street, this corner lot could not be demolished.
The lot had originally contained a low-quality, 4-storey building. Consultation with the town planning office resulted in permission to erect a 6-storey building. The narrow width of the façade creates an elegant vertical volume against the provisional side façade of the adjacent building located on the left-hand side.
The façade texture is made up of 60 cm-wide, yellow-brown, brickwork piers combined with beige-coloured concrete lintels. The masonry work was executed using Brick V from the Nature7 range with thin pointing in different patterns.
The exterior carpentry work was recessed as part of the shadow effect, which means that it does not form a noticeable part of the façade layout. A conscious choice was made to create a yellowy-brown building between the grey and the brick-red neighbour.
Due to the playful effect of the brickwork piers, the typical 60 cm vertical façade line area on the left and right side where no windows may be placed, is less noticeable than on many other buildings.
The ground floor has been lowered; space is foreseen for an entrance hall, a technical space and bicycle storage. At the rear, the first housing unit looks out onto a small garden below.
Due to its context (heritage value and the preservation of the buildings in the side street), it was decided to execute the new ‘provisional side façade’ perfectly in line with the front façade, in the same stone facing work and carrying through the concrete lintels. In all probability, no other building will ‘ever’ be constructed against this building …
