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Spikvoorde I, Deventer

Apartments, Deventer NL, Project Team: René van Zuuk, Kersten Scheller, Wulf Oschwald, Christoph Mettler, Client: Woonbedrijf ledereen, Developer: Le Clercq Planontwikkeling bv, Start of design: 2003-2004, Completion: 2010-2011, Area: 890 m², Volume: 2.670 m³, Building costs: € 825.000

Spikvoorde is part of ''De Vijfhoek'' (The Pentagon), a new neighbourhood in the city of Deventer in the Netherlands. Within a short period of time, two commission opportunities in this area were presented. Although the two projects (Spikvoorde I and II) differ in their program and principal, they are indeed related in their syntax and structure.

The location of this project is identical to the first Spikvoorde assignment: an all-around open and urban plot. The two projects are treated similarly in the design process and form an underlying architectural unity. The argument of relating the buildings architecturally convinced the client as regards the design part, and the commission for seven low-rise houses was secured. The design is based on the same module, starting with one basic shape that is repeated several times by means of combined rotation and shifting. By repeating the same process six times, a concentric volume around an enclosed courtyard arises. The result is a housing block without a front and rear, but with an inside and outside.

The structure is indeed recurrent but has two deliberate anomalies. To facilitate orientation and to enhance the notion of uniqueness, the gap between the shifted modules is filled in two places. Uniformity and simplification in the implementation phase are maintained, while architectural predictability is avoided.

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