The village of Baambrugge lies on the meandering River Angstel to the south of Abcoude. This agricultural landscape is characterised by the polders which were created in the middle ages.

Baambrugge consists of the original ribbon development along the Angstel, free-standing 17th and 18th century buildings on the outskirts and the central village, formed around the church and village hall. In the 1950’s and 60’s new terraced housing estates were built on the edges of the village.

While the new housing project is an addition to one of these later developments its organisation is based more upon the topography and more open structure of the older village. It is conceived as a new edge to the village; the houses face outwards towards the open landscape.

Views to the landscape from within the estate are emphasised and the original structure of the agricultural plots becomes again tangible by planting trees along their boundaries and continuing these lines into the heart of the new estate.
Sloping roofs placed predominantly perpendicular to the façade express as far as is possible each individual dwelling.
The housing types include semi-detached and terraced houses and apartments. The use of similar form language and materials helps to provide cohesion between the various building types.

 

The village of Bambrugge is situated between Amsterdam and Utrecht in an agricultural landscape which was reclaimed from the sea in the 13th century.
Our office was commissioned to add forty new dwellings to complete one of the edges of this small rural community. The development is now on site and will be completed in March 2010.
The site upon which the new dwellings are being built was formerly the outside skating rink for the one hundred year old Baambrugge Ice Skating Club.
As part of the overall development the local council and a housing association have collaborated with the villagers and the ice skating club (which includes virtually all of the inhabitants of the village amongst its members) in the creation of a new ice rink with affiliated clubhouse and village hall. We were asked to design this building.
Agricultural buildings predominate in this rural landscape. The new clubhouse will be a free standing structure in the land adjoining the village. For this reason we gave the building a form which has an affinity with the agricultural buildings in the proximity.
The silhouette of the building is much like that of its neighbours.
However, the asymmetric roof form, finely detailed larch cladding and storey-height glazing orientated towards the ice rink reveal upon further inspection that it does not have an agricultural function.

Agricultural buildings predominate in this rural landscape. The new clubhouse will be a free standing structure in the land adjoining the village. For this reason we gave the new building a form which has an affinity with the agricultural buildings in the proximity.
The silhouette of the building is much like that of its neighbours.
However, the asymmetric roof form, finely detailed larch cladding and storey-height glazing orientated towards the ice rink reveal upon further inspection that it does not have an agricultural function.

The village of Baambrugge lies on the meandering River Angstel, south of Abcoude.The area is characterised by polders with traditional field patterns which were created in the middle ages.

The village is centred around the church and square. There are ribbon-formed plots along the banks of the river and various country houses. New housing was added to the fringes of the village during the 1950’s and 1960’s in the form of long free standing blocks.

The new neighbourhood seeks inspiration in the looser forms and block patterns of the older village and is a conscious effort to create a new profile and image for the village. Existing property and tree lines are extended from the surrounding landscape into the new urban plan and accentuate the views from within the village to the countryside around.

The roofs of the dwellings are pitched, individual gables are oriented to the front facade. The same form  language is used for all of the housing types, which include rented and private sector houses and apartments for the elderly.

The project also involves the renovation of existing rented housing stock adjacent to the new neighbourhood, and a new clubhouse for the local ice skating club, as the former clubhouse and skating rink stood on the site of the new urban plan.