MVRDV tops "polite yet radical" Eindhoven housing with angular roofs
A cluster of housing blocks with jagged grass-covered rooftops form Nieuw Bergen, a residential complex completed by Dutch studio MVRDV in Eindhoven.
Comprised of seven buildings, the mixed-tenure development contains 237 homes, including luxury penthouses, within five new blocks and two renovated 20th-century municipal buildings.
MVRDV designed the blocks to gradually rise in scale with the aim of being less imposing on the surrounding low-rise neighbourhood, while their green roofs were angled to optimise daylight.
"The project demonstrates how careful design can add density while retaining a sense of openness, character and urban identity," the studio said.
"The seven buildings – named Indigo, Violet, Bleu, Rouge, Orange, Jaune, and Vert – express a gradual transition in scale that allows the dense new development to blend into the low-rise, historic architecture of Bergen."
"The result is a chain of polite yet simultaneously radical buildings with an exciting contour resembling a mountainous landscape," studio founding partner Jacob van Rijs added.
At street level, the site's existing red-brick buildings were restored. A new facade added to connect the two buildings recreates the symmetrical front of a block that formerly occupied the plot.
Beyond this, the complex rises to the six-storey Orange building, which contains the development's 48 social housing apartments.
The tallest of the blocks is the 17-storey Indigo building, distinguished by its white stone facade.
Atop three of the seven buildings are open-air roof terraces enclosed by gridded structures complete with glass parapets.
These terraces double as communal spaces on the Rouge and Bleu towers, with the latter also featuring a glass-enclosed greenhouse for communal gardening.
"These opportunities for residents to meet together, host events, and cultivate gardens helps to stimulate social cohesion among residents," the studio said.
Within the towers, the penthouse apartment layouts were determined by the sloping roofs and are illuminated by their angled openings.
"[The] roof surfaces trace a 45-degree angle from the base of neighbouring structures, ensuring bright, sunlit homes and public spaces and making Nieuw Bergen feel open and airy in spite of its density and intimate street layout," the studio explained.
The roofs have also been fitted with photovoltaic panels to reduce operational emissions.
MVRDV also recently completed La Vallée Verte housing in Bordeauxm France, which is animated by plant pots and people-shaped portals.
Elsewhere, the studio has revealed its design alongside Diamond Schmitt for a terraced research building for the University of Toronto.
The photography is by Ossip van Duivenbode.
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