Until recently, the Church of the Resurrection, most famously known as 'De Kolenkit' (The Coal Sifter), held a very prominent position in the neighborhood, so prominent indeed that this part of Nieuw-West became known as the Kolenkitbuurt. The neighborhood, situated between the A10 highway and the ring railway, frequently made the news as a problem area. The neighborhood is now part of the large-scale renewal project in the Nieuw-West district.
While the Kolenkit is located on the A10 highway, on the other side of the neighborhood, at the corner of Bos en Lommerweg and Leeuwendalersweg, near the De Vlughtlaan metro station, a new landmark has emerged: the New Kit is a 58-meter-high, seventeen-story, slanted residential tower. By tilting the tower to the west and constructing it with white natural stone, it symbolizes the positive and dynamic development of the neighborhood.
The New Kit has 58 homes for sale and rent. Each floor has four apartments grouped around a core with a staircase and an elevator. The top floors feature two penthouses. The designers paid close attention to creating bright and spacious apartments. The bottom three floors are designed as commercial spaces that can be rented out in various sizes due to their flexible layout.
A new landmark was needed for the neighborhood – and The New Kit has delivered. "The Kolenkit, the famous tower of the Resurrection Church, was completely overshadowed by the overpass over the A10 near Bos en Lommerplein," explains Peter Visser (54), area developer at housing corporation Eigen Haard. "An icon was needed to connect Bos en Lommer more strongly with the city within the ring road."
HM Architecten came up with a bold design: an eighteen-story white residential tower, nearly sixty meters high, that leans diagonally towards the railway embankment, thus forming a beacon for the De Vlugtlaan metro station.
"The assignment was: design an urban metaphor for the renewal of this neighborhood," says architect Will Weerkamp. "And we wanted to capture the dynamics of the intersection with the metro station."
The special thing is that our concept has been realized one-to-one. Exactly as we envisioned it, the client had it built. And that wasn't simple, because if you have a crooked building with a vertical elevator shaft, all the floor plans are different. That presented an interesting puzzle.
Previously, there was a community garden complex here, but it had to make way for the large-scale redevelopment of Bos en Lommer. 132 homes were built on this site, mostly to house people whose homes were demolished. By selling some of those homes, the entire project was intended to remain affordable.
The Weerkamp tower, with 58 homes and commercial spaces downstairs, was intended for sale; in addition, a block with 74 homes was built for social housing tenants. But then the crisis hit and buyers stayed away.
"We decided to just build the tower and put the apartments back on the market shortly before completion," said Visser. "And now, only the two penthouses are still for sale; on the top nine floors, we've sold all 32 apartments, and on the floors below that, 24 have been rented out." A tenant also seems to be interested in the commercial spaces.
The residents are all equally enthusiastic, as evidenced by their average rating of 8.3. "A bright and spacious home with a beautiful view," says one. "The design is an excellent success, with a stylish appearance," believes another. And several mention 'the cozy multicultural neighborhood with a lot of variety' as a plus.
This is also how Eugeen van Wees (40) sees it, who lives in a purchased apartment of 104 square meters on the twelfth floor. He paid 273,000 euros for it, including bought-out long-term lease and a spot in the parking garage.
"I lived on Orteliusstraat, near Mercatorplein, and often cycled past here when I went to Haarlem," says Van Wees. "I saw those big windows and thought, wow, I want to live there! And now that I'm here, it completely lives up to the idea I had back then. It's also very good that such projects are being built in a so-called problem neighborhood – although I haven't experienced any issues myself."
The five jurors who selected the nominated projects also consider this important. "It's a landmark building that elevates its surroundings," says Anton de Beij (33). "It's spectacular," judges Jolanda Koeman (52), "although that comes with disadvantages."
"It's an optimistic building," summarizes developer Visser, "that helps improve the neighborhood's image."
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