The future of the walk-up apartment

Abstract

The Netherlands has a high percentage of post-war walk-up apartments, in Dutch 'portiekflats' which do not rise up to the current sustainability standards anymore. These neighborhoods are often monotone and have many social problems. By example of mother nature and her ecosystems we can redesign these places in a more diverse and local way to make them more resilient towards future changes. The walk-up apartments that will be addressed in this graduation project are situated in Carnisse, Rotterdam, designed by Jo van den Broek. This project takes the renovation of these apartments a step further than just renovating them. What is the status of the local flows (water, energy, waste, material, nutrients) in Carnisse, how can we create locally closed loops of these flows and what interventions are needed to be able to connect the walk-up apartments to these flows? The design is based on four principles that arose from the research of the questions mentioned before; close local flows, improve the public space, diversify and upgrade the walk-up. A new construction was designed that enabled greenhouses to be built on top of the existing buildings, but also creates the possibility to extend the dwellings or the option to make them life cycle proof, creating a more diverse neighborhood that is less dependent on external resources, making it more resilient and ready for the future.