With the Noordpoort plan the municipality of Meppel stimulates mixed-use developments in the industrial fringe along an old shipping canal. Rather than fully replace one function for the other, the goal is gradual transition to a functionally inclusive area, where places of working, leisure and dwelling coexist. The project investigates the redevelopment of an existing warehouse on the border of the industrial zone and a social housing estate.
The footprint and elevation of the warehouse was the starting point for different volume studies. The context inspired the factory-like proposal. The section develops around a two level parking garage and places the bulk of the programme at the centre of the site. The terraced geometry creates a clear silhouette which at the same time relates to both the larger and smaller scales of surrounding structures.
As the first building in the redevelopment zone, the building is a placemaker with new programme and identity. The formal south facade gives face to a piazza along a new planned east-west connection for pedestrians and bicycles. The side facades have an informal character, addressing the human scale within an industrial framework.
The multifunctional plinth has high commercial spaces oriented towards the street and compact duplex family homes addressing the green edge of the site. The contour of the stack of back-to-back dwellings above the garage is manipulated to make each type a corner apartment, overlooking a green roofscape.
The 3.5 room apartments on top have two sided orientation and large outside spaces with distant views.
project - Ware House
program - 24 rental apartment, commercial spaces and ateliers, garage for 36 cars, total 4650 m²
location - Meppel
status - design phase
client - KZNA concept & ontwikkeling
photography - Max Hart Nibbrig (model)