‘zierikzee apartment buildings’, front facade

the ‘zierikzee apartment buildings’ by dutch studio kingma roorda architecten consists of two apartment units situated just west of the historical center of zierikzee in the netherlands linking up the existing neighbourhood poorambacht to the historic town. both as a reaction to the specific character of the site and as a response to today’s diverging lifestyles, the design for this new quay can be seen as a reinterpretation of the quay typologies that can be found through the provinces of zeeland and the netherlands.

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings front entrance

as big, entirely coloured warehouses clad in metal, the apartment buildings stand out in the adjacent sea of individual quay houses.

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings front entrance

for the design of the buildings, the architects looked at old commercial warehouses in trading cities such as venice (italy), bergen (norway), new york (USA), and zierkzee (the netherlands). both the apartment are independent building volumes. the colours and the simple shape of the windows were borrowed from the colourful warehouse architecture of bergen. in this design, the stately venetian palazzo is fused with the sturdy scandinavian warehouse.

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

the exterior of both buildings present themselves as members of one family by their signature colour and specific treatment of the facade. inside the buildings, the interior offers a great variety of floor plans through their specific position on the quay.

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings aluminium columns occupy the front facade

to heighten plasticity, the facades of the buildings were elaborated by means of a partly self-supporting grid of large thresholds and then columns were made out of aluminium. the grid-like surface relief seeks to nuance the contrast between the small size of the houses and the large size of the apartment building. through the coastal sunlight, the filmy grid creates a vivid image of the building. while the buildings are prominently present at the quays, it is possible to look far away over the area of the upper floors. here the view goes over the seawall to the zeeland bridge, towards the oosterschelde.

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings 35 apartments clad in red aluminium panels.

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings block of quay housing units

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings interior hallway

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings aerial view of quay

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings detail aerial view

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings floor plan

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings floor plan

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

sectional view

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings sectional view

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings

kingma roorda architecten: zierikzee apartment buildings site plan