Shiny projects

In 2017, the young architectural firm Space Encounters was given the opportunity to design eight plots in the first phase of the Wisselspoor project in Utrecht. Gijs Baks, architect and co-founder of Space Encounters, explains how they “tried to push the limits of the master plan” with bespoke aluminium facades. “A bit of rebellion”, he chuckles. Metadecor co-engineered the facades for two blocks of single-family houses in this new residential area.

Commissioned by project developer Synchroon and within the master plan by architecture firm Studioninedots and Delva Landscape Architecture | Urbanism, architectural firm Space Encounters designed a series of houses – eight plots in total - as the winners of The Next Step Award that was organised by the branch organisation BNA in 2017. The young architects aimed for “surprise and amazement” for the facades of 'their' plots but were required to stay within the structure of the master plan. Architect Gijs Baks worked with Metadecor on behalf of Space Encounters for the plots that were to be fitted with an aluminium facade. 

“I have indeed called them our ‘shiny projects’,” Gijs laughs. He refers to a series of photos he posted on social media after recently taking a bike ride through the Wisselspoor project area. “They really stand out: the aluminium surfaces shine between the brickwork and the tiled facades,” he enthuses. Of the eight plots Space Encounters was allowed to fill in the first phase of Wisselspoor, two blocks of houses were given aluminium skins. "Aluminium was not in the master plan – with our design choices we investigated and pushed the limits of the plan. All in clear communication with the supervisor, of course," Gijs states. And as the winner of a prize for young architects, Space Encounters rightfully assumed they were allowed their bit of rebellion.

"Aluminium was not in the master plan - we pushed the boundaries"

Connection

For all dwellings and plots assigned to them, the architects had one important starting point for the architecture: the connection of the (inside) living space with the (outside) public space. The architect: "The architecture of the facades derives from our ambition to create social cohesion on different levels, starting at street level. We created large windows in the front facades to make that connection and allowed the residents to place their kitchen at the front or at the back of the ground floor area."

The architects chose tiles, bricks and aluminium for the facades of their plots. “To convince the developer and supervisor of our ideas to make an aluminium facade, we visited a previous project of ours with a robust corrugated iron façade: Rebel House. They liked it and that gave us a green light for the Wisselspoor facades." The engineers of Metadecor worked with Gijs and his team on the design and details of two plots: a facade with (partly mirroring) flat sheet elements and a row of three residential houses with concave facades made of corrugated aluminium sheets. Both designs have a - literal - twist.

"It is a flat facade that is not flat. Beautifully made."

Mirroring and concave

On one plot, the facade of two adjacent houses is clad with MD Flack. The window frames show a special feature: by placing the frames at an angle, a deep jamb was created on one side of the window. This jamb is covered with shiny - mirroring - stainless steel. "The result is beautiful!" states Gijs enthusiastically. "It is a flat facade that is not flat. Walking through the street, the experience of the space is different, because of that mirror. It surprises, it connects."

Three adjacent houses on another plot were given a full-height, full-width concave facade. "The concave facade embraces the public space: it connects the house and the street," the architect states. With its industrial aluminium skin, the design of this trio of houses also connects with that of the car park opposite the street. The parking garage is clad with a curtain of concave waves made of expanded metal (see also the Wisselspoor Car Park project on Metadecor's website). “It’s not a deliberate reference," Gijs confesses. "We wanted to make the facades of these terraced houses sturdy and robust, to counter the surrounding projects that are somewhat larger in scale.”

The arguments for Space Encounters to use aluminium and this concave may be different, and the similarities in the design are more coincidental than deliberate, but it gives this new neighbourhood an interesting cohesion. It must be said: the aluminium certainly stands out in this first phase of Wisselspoor, both with the residential projects and the parking garage. It stands out in a shiny and – looking at form and detailing - surprising way.