Poortgebouw Noord

Four nature-inclusive buildings with a green inner garden: Poortgebouw Noord is an ensemble of four buildings connected by a garden wall on the Wickevoort estate. Wickevoort is being developed into a new, green residential area. Here we design a total of three iconic buildings and the wall of the estate with the entrance gate and two bridges. Wickevoort originated from an urban development plan by Venhoeven CS in collaboration with Landlab. We are working on several buildings here, including the two gatehouses.

The northern and southern gatehouses are on either side of the wall with the main entrance of the Wickevoort estate. The masonry of the gatehouses and the wall is made of the same brick. By applying different masonry bonds, brick formats and jointing, a subtle variation is nevertheless created. Poortgebouw Noord consists of a green courtyard surrounded by four nature-inclusive buildings of two storeys with a roof. These are small, ground-level social rental homes. These have their front gardens and front doors on the court where parking is also done. As a result, the ensemble lies like a monastery in the green landscape. You cannot read the individual houses from the facade. As a result, the buildings have a strong collective appearance. The houses have the front door and garden in the courtyard. Due to the tight rhythm of window openings with deep recesses, the buildings have a robust and monastery-like appearance.

All kinds of nesting facilities for bats and swallows have been incorporated into the masonry of the gatehouses. Butterfly joints have been applied and even a barn owl box has been incorporated in the north facade.