OOSTERLUWTE

Parking and living in hoorn

The RAC location is a strategically-situated inner courtyard on the periphery of the characteristic centre of Hoorn. While the historical centre is within walking distance, from the motorway the location can be reached by car within minutes. THe Site is barely visible from the historical centre, but it is clearly visible to arriving motorists. The planned parking faciliites form an entrance porch to the city and it is consequently an important component of the public space. The point of departure for this urban study is the integration of street level parking facilities with a variable capacity to a maximum of 450 parking spaces to meet the future high demand for parking space on the east flank of the city. A study has also been carried out to examine whether the parking programme can be expanded to include housing and facilities.
The relatively closed nature of the location requires special focus when designing the housing. An introvert character has been adopted as the point of departure for the new housing typology. The zoning plan will be revised and the existing schools will be converted into attractive urban apartments. The main volume on the canal is also suitable as a representative entrance to the parking facilities. By positioning this entrance in the direction of the centre, to the extent that this is possible, the psychological distance between the car park and the retail core area is kept as short as possible.

VARIANT 1: HOORNSCHE SCHANS is a street-level parking deck in extension of the access road. Cars arriving are naturally intercepted before reaching the centre. This variant proves that a street-level car park is possible without having to lead to morphological conflicts. Small-scale facilities can be added to the parking deck.

VARIANT 2: UNDER THE GARDENS shows a housing deck of a floor that 'hovers' above the parking facilities. The living rooms orientate onto private garden patios. These patios are directly connected to a green roof landscape that is only open to residents. Each housing unit has an area that rises above the housing deck and looks out over the semi-public green roof landscape.

VARIANT 3: HOME BASE forms the synthesis between a car park and housing. In this variant the introvert character of the location is seized on to create a unique urban setting. A mix of exceptional housing typologies in combination with studio space, office space and/or small-scale activities creates conditions for a lively and industrious environment within walking distance of the town centre