The dwelling is located in a park within the city centre of Maastricht, The Netherlands.
The special form derives from the contextual relation to the historic modernistic tower in the urban plan (1962) and the relation to the monumental Gingko Biloba tree.
Within the historic city walls this was before an old monastery garden, later a hospital and nursing home. But the place always served as hidden green space. In our urban plan for the site we cherished this green space.
The gate on the Abtstreet functions as a 'pars pro toto' for this project. The charming modernist nursing home of the architect Schellinckx from 1962 still stands at the site. A unique modernist incident within the cityscape for Maastricht.
Within these conditions of the urban plan, one lot remained free. In the small garden from the 1950s that belonged to the nursing home, a stump of an ancient monumental Ginkgo Biloba was preserved. This is the remnant of the first Ginkgo Biloba that was imported from China by a Franciscan monk to the Netherlands at the end of the 18th century. (Of these cuttings are spread over the most important botanical gardens in the Netherlands, including the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden.)
The housing volume is formed by a number of urban planning restrictions and the presence of the tree on the plot. As the final piece, the house has been inserted into the row as an sculptural object. And in doing so, the masses form a counterpoint to the adjacent modernist monumental Polvertoren. In tone, texture and scale they are family but staying both incidents. Very personal gestures that belong to an incremental city.
The footprint is limited to an area of 6 by 9 meters. Above that, the volume was allowed to expand again to a square of 9 by 9 meters. In floor plan and cross-section, these dimensions and proportions always play a role in the division of the various spaces and facades.
We trived to always see the houses interior as a continuity of flowing spaces. The ground floor is connected to the first floor by a large void and first floor is connected to the second floor by the loggia. The third floor through a large skylight with the sky and looks back at the Polvertoren. The concrete spiral staircase with an open center circles through the volume as a connecting vertical core throughout the house.
The plinth was made with a smooth painted stucco, the top with a coarse 'kratzputz' to turn on the gravity inversion a little more strongly.
The house has a thick warm shell, is compact and has a fully integrated sunroof that supplies the heat pump with energy.
