A large number of buildings in the Fannius Scholtenbuurt in the Westerpark were subject to high-level renovation. In Blok AB17, the seventy existing homes and two commercial spaces were in poor condition; in Blok AB11, it was 84 apartments and 3 commercial spaces that needed improvement. The buildings on Van Hogendorpstraat were renovated according to the ‘Better Renovating’ program, with much attention being paid to restoring the original architecture and detailing: facades were cleaned, masonry and ornaments restored, and windows, doors, and frames were replaced and adapted to current requirements, while retaining the original detailing and appearance of the facade.
The seventy existing homes of Blok AB17 have been combined into 57 new homes. The 84 small-sized apartments in Blok AB11, with an average size of 40-50 m2, were partially combined into larger homes of 80-110 m2. Blok AB11 now houses 64 homes.
The majority of the tenants returned to their new homes. Their individual living needs have been taken into account in the design of the new apartments. The new apartments are both for sale and for rent and come in the form of two- and three-room apartments and four-room maisonettes.
‘Up here on the third floor I was born. And I have lived there all my life,’ says Jan Posthuma (64) in the Van Hogendorpstraat. ‘That’s where Willy and I celebrated our wedding. I never wanted to move out of there.’ So when I had to move out for the renovation, the agreement was that I would return to my own home. A top floor apartment; there wasn’t much I could negotiate with them about that.”
Still, Willy (58) and he now live downstairs. Willy: “I managed that. They offered this to me, and I told Jan: no more stairs, add a garden—especially now that we have a grandchild—we have to do this.” Jan: “We said goodbye to our house with a bottle of wine and some French cheese. But now that we live here, I haven’t regretted it for a single day.”
They even had to give up some space. In the old building, they had a staircase leading into the attic; they paid 192 euros for that. Now they charge 475 euros for 60 square meters. “But it’s worth the higher rent,” says Willy: “We now have a large bathroom and a spacious kitchen.” In this neighborhood, the housing corporation Rochdale has drastically renovated and combined a total of 154 old social housing units into 121 new ones: apartments of two and three rooms and maisonettes with four rooms. The facades have been thoroughly renovated: the original details and ornaments have been restored, and all the windows, doors, and windowsills have been replaced.
Several homes were sold (an apartment of one hundred square meters cost 319,000 euros, including a finishing fee of 12,500 euros); however, in most cases the social tenants returned, who were allowed to decide on the layout of their home. “Because that’s where it all starts,” explains Chris Buur (37), the architect of this project. “Good contact with the existing tenants and thorough knowledge of the detailing and the structural condition of the buildings. That yielded interesting puzzles.”
Ton van der Voort (61), the director of the Slokker Construction Group branch that deals with renovation, also knows all about it. He has been involved in renovation in the Staatsliedenbuurt for twelve years and everything there is monitored closely. “You have to have a lot of consultation, keep in constant contact with everyone in the neighborhood, and the construction time has to be as short as possible. The people would rather see you go than come. We are therefore very pleased that we were able to deliver three or four months earlier than was estimated,” said Van der Voort.
“This new build, new homes behind the existing facade, appeals very much to me,” says jury member Barbara Dijk, although the jury still found it difficult to narrow down the ten nominees to a single project. According to the jury, the renovation project in the Fannius Scholtenbuurt really does belong there.
The residents gave their project an 8.5. “The houses have been restored to their old glory, but with the quality of modern times,” they replied in the survey. And as special pluses, they mentioned the proximity to a good shopping street and the Westerpark. “Indeed,” says Willy Posthuma, “the neighborhood is very cozy.” She and her husband have also experienced the low points of the Staatsliedenbuurt up close over the years – “Over there on the other side, a bomb was thrown in from inside” – but are now delighted that they never left.
“That’s why this is better than new construction,” explains architect Buur. “The end result means an improvement in the livability of the neighborhood. A sustainable solution has been chosen, while maintaining social cohesion.”
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