These newly built locations are part of the 'De Hollandse Meesters' project, a contemporary interpretation of the architectural characteristics of the Dutch Renaissance, which consists of four new construction projects and one renovation project. The new buildings blend into the streetscape of De Pijp with remarkable ease. The projects bear the name of a painting created by the painter of the street.
They are new infills within closed building blocks that are connected in pairs by an underground parking garage and a (partially) shared inner courtyard.
This will be a repeat exercise. The Cuisinière, het Watermeisje, de Jonge Moeder, and de Bouwmeester, four small new-build developments on Gerard Doustraat and Tweede Jacob van Campenstraat, belong to the same project as de Weerbare Man on Govert Flinckstraat, which also made it into the top ten of the New Architecture Prize last year—just completed a bit earlier, hence.
All that new construction, always three or four buildings between the existing houses, is part of the Dutch Masters project, all named after works by the painters who gave their names to these streets in De Pijp. The architects, Peter Geusebroek and Svetla Stefanova, wanted to design new buildings that effortlessly fit into the existing streetscape without creating tacky copies of the old facades. "That facade appearance has become our handwriting," says Stefanova (38). "We closely examine the characteristics of the urban planning environment, the experience of perspective in the narrow street."
A special feature of all these homes is the wooden door, designed differently for each group of homes by Piet-Hein Eek. Furthermore, the blocks all feature a spacious indoor bicycle storage. For a few of the blocks, it was also possible to construct an underground parking garage beneath them.
Stefanova: “We created a single baseline plan for all homes with a fixed core, around which everything can be freely configured. This gives residents the opportunity to set up their home as a loft, but also as a four-room apartment. We also offered buyers a book with the variants.”
Manon van Veenendaal and Jobbe Jorna (both 29) live in a 75-square-meter apartment there, for which they had to pay 232,500 euros. “The drawing already showed how beautiful this architectural style would be,” Van Veenendaal recalls. “It was well thought out and beautiful materials were used.”
The jury is also very complimentary. "It is beautifully integrated into the existing row of facades," believes Jacobine Ritsema. And the price-quality ratio is exemplary. As negative points, the jury mentions the narrow staircase and the limited storage space. The residents also criticize the steel staircase in their evaluation, finding it too noisy.
Building in the narrow streets of De Pijp was no small feat, says director Martin Deurwaarder of the construction company of the same name. “So many streets have already been cordoned off because of the construction of the North/South Line, and emergency services needed to maintain a clear passage.”
Moreover, we were faced with all kinds of extra costs because we had to apply for many more permits than we had budgeted for. We had to pay for every sign we put up. We had underestimated that. Still, we delivered everything within the estimated time.
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