Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Biesland

This is a project by FARO Architecten + Heren5 Architects and it is located at Ypenburg, The Hague, Netherlands. It was submitted to Architecture News Plus (ANP) by FARO Architecten. Project's program: Urban planning and architecture of new neighborhood. There are eight images for Biesland.

: © Kees Hummel

Project details

Project name: Biesland
Location: Ypenburg, The Hague, Netherlands
Program: Urban planning and architecture of new neighborhood
Area: Site area: 15.2 hectare
Year: Completion: 2008
More details: Units: 479 houses • Cost: €25,060,000
Client: Kanters Projectontwikkeling
Project by: FARO Architecten + Heren5 Architects
Team: Principal designer: Jurgen van der Ploeg • Design team: HNS, Bureau Middelkoop and CBB
Others: Contractor: Kanters

Project images

Designer's statement

Planning and Architecture for Biesland:

The 479 houses in Biesland are designed by five different architects who each made their own design subordinate to the ensemble of a ‘rural’ neighborhood. The urban plan has chosen the old farms’ proportions of 3:4:5 (53 degrees) and a sustainable and sober palette of materials as the basis of the identity of the plan and the architecture. By the holistic approach of architecture, urban planning and landscape, we created a ‘unity in diversity’ that gives this neighborhood its self-evident pleasantness.

FARO together with Heren5 developed the winning plan “Biesland”, that now, ten years later is completed. In Biesland, the architects worked according to the agreements in the design guidelines and the plan was developed by one developer. This resulted in a harmonic balance between unity and diversity. All houses have the same 53 degrees roof pitch and all roof tiles and brick are from the same family in material and color. The result is an informal and relaxed living environment where all homes have different architectural nuances and have different positions on their lots.

A clear transition from lot to public space is important for the sustainability of an urban plan. In Biesland all lots are different, which meant we had to create a micro-urban planning per lot, defining exactly how the house was being put on the lot, how big the front yard would be, the height of the roof that would fit best, which direction the roof points, the location of the garage and the car and which lot-separations should be applied.