The Netherlands is short approximately 400 000 homes, and nearly one million more are required by 2030. Greenfield expansion would consume the remaining open landscapes, including protected areas such as Midden-Delfland. The alternative is to densify the monofunctional industrial estates that line the urban edge, but most existing approaches displace the industry rather than integrate it. This project asks how an adaptive spatial framework, based on Habraken’s Open Building principles, can enable the densification of a logistics site in Berkel en Rodenrijs (around 250 dwellings on the JoyLogistics plot) while integrating living, working and landscape into a system that evolves over time. Following a research-through-design method, the project develops three interlinked design principles, supported by literature on Open Building, the productive city and place-attachment theory, and grounded in four case studies: Kalkbreite, Next21, The City Dune and Superlofts. A catalyst (free shared energy from PV on the 18,000 m² shed roof and aquathermal heat from an adjacent water buffer) attracts pioneers to a low-image industrial edge. An adaptive 8.4 by 8.4 metre support, carrying modular dwellings, façade panels and four lifespan layers, lets residents stay through every life phase via a modular tenure system. Symbiosis between residents and industry workers is built over time through shared infrastructure, a gradient public deck, a productive school, a workshop, and cross-financed governance. The three principles operate as a closed loop in which architectural decisions, the tenure model and the governance structure reinforce one another: free energy attracts pioneers; modules let them stay; staying produces attachment; attachment produces symbiosis; symbiosis produces resilience; protected returns keep stakeholders investing. Each of the four precedents demonstrates one segment of this loop; this project demonstrates its closure. The result is a replicable method for densifying industrial edges without displacing industry, consuming protected landscape, or sacrificing affordability. ... Read more

This graduation project proposes a new form of community living within the rewetting peat landscape of the Vlietlanden, Midden-Delfland — a territory undergoing fundamental ecological transformation under the ZUS, SWECO, & FLUX Landscape Architecture masterplan for 2122 (2022). As conventional agriculture becomes untenable and water levels rise, the project asks : what comes next, and who lives there ?

The project develops a woonlandschap — a living productive landscape — for approximately 55 dwellings and 150 inhabitants, organised around three dimensions of productivity : ecological, material, and social. The landscape is treated not as a backdrop but as the generative foundation of every spatial decision. Water and soil gradients dictate land use, which dictates the position and form of the settlement.

Three new social actors inhabit this landscape : the new farmer as landscape guardian and educator, the seasonal worker as full community member, and the hybrid resident seeking an active relationship with nature. Together they form a mixed community organised around shared productive infrastructure — workshop, community kitchen, educational space, and restaurant — at the heart of a circular ring of dwellings.

The architectural typology combines hexagonal CLT dwelling units with a rectangular greenhouse envelope. The hexagon responds to the organic, non-orthogonal conditions of the rewetting soil, breaks the rigid geometry of the polder grid, and opens six sightlines onto the productive landscape. The greenhouse provides a spatial and environmental threshold between interior and landscape — generating three new biotopes, producing energy through BIPV panels, and filtering water through rooftop helophyte systems. The settlement is energy positive, materially circular, and ecologically generative.
The project demonstrates that architecture in a fragile, transitional landscape don’t need to choose between human comfort and ecological integrity. When the ground leads, both become possible.
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This thesis explores the possibility of designing dwellings with the current inhabitants, the animals, in mind first. Over the past 50 years, wildlife has decreased by 73%, while the human population continues to grow and take more and more of the land, further destroying the nature that we depend on. This thesis aims to raise awareness of the design process and start integrating other animals into it as soon as possible, with the aim of reducing the impact of building in nature. The Midden-Delfland area has been chosen as a case study to explore this issue, with the focus being on the ‘Delfland Small Five’ to gather information on designing for them.

The main question is: How can architectural design principles be created to promote biodiversity in Midden-Delfland while looking at the Small five, while recognizing that different species respond differently to different densities?

To achieve this, literature studies have been conducted to gain insight into the lives of the Delfland Small Five, while case studies have been analysed to gather information on similar buildings. The worlds of humans and animals can complement each other through dwellings designed to blend into the landscape, preventing visual disturbance for some species and enriching or limiting the vegetation required by others. This, combined with careful maintenance, can ensure that habitats are sustained. It must be kept in mind that these principles have not yet been tested in real life, and that they should be tested in a real environment to ensure the results are feasible.
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Situated in the heart of the changing polder landscape of Midden-Delfland, the project investigates how architecture can respond to two interconnected challenges that will become increasingly relevant in the future: the transformation of the Dutch polder landscape, and the growing impact of dementia within an ageing society. The connection between these two areas is found in the shared themes of loss of control, uncertainty, and an unstable and unpredictable environment.

Dementia is approached not only as a medical condition, but as a spatial challenge affecting orientation, sensory experience, familiarity, mobility, and social interaction. The research emphasised the need for new housing models that address these issues, move beyond traditional institutional care environments, and support residents throughout the progression of the disease.

The project proposes a continuous care system for people with mild, moderate and severe dementia. The design allows to move between different levels of independence and care within one coherent system based on the three stages of dementia. The three residential courtyards are connected by an elevated street accommodating shared facilities stimulating social interaction and wellbeing.

The outcome is a dementia-friendly environment in which care, nature and spatial design merge to promote health, liveability and sustainability. The project seeks to find a balance as people and their environment change; between autonomy and care, between nature and well-being, between memory and landscape.
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This research asks how the multi-tenant office building, a common but overlooked typology in Dutch business parks, can generate urban vitality within a mixed-use environment by drawing on its own structural and spatial qualities. Through literature review, case study analysis and design research grounded in Brand's shearing layers, Brooker and Stone's reuse strategies, and Gehl's and Sennett's accounts of vitality, the study identifies four typological constants: an overdimensioned structure, a generic floor plan, peripheral circulation and collective infrastructure. Applied to an office building in Rotterdam's Noord-West business park, the design reorganises the existing office blocks for housing and adds a cross-laminated timber residential volume above the concrete hall, which becomes a mixed public space linked to the street through a redesigned plinth and passage. The result demonstrates that working with, rather than replacing, the building's own logic produces vitality and offers principles transferable to a wider class of underused buildings. ... Read more

This graduation project addresses two major challenges in the Netherlands: the housing crisis and climate change. It argues that future housing should not only provide sustainable and climate-adaptive homes, but also create healthy living environments that improve physical and mental well-being.

The project focuses on how architecture can encourage outdoor living and strengthen the connection between people and nature. Special attention is given to children and families, as growing up in a healthy environment with access to outdoor spaces is seen as essential for long-term health and development.

Located in Midden-Delfland, near Maasland, the design explores a new housing model integrated into the polder landscape. The proposal introduces smaller, flexible homes with strong indoor-outdoor connections and transitional buffer zones that adapt to seasonal changes. Residents are encouraged to spend more time outside, making nature an active part of daily life.

The broader masterplan organizes the landscape into housing zones, nature buffer zones, and protected nature zones to minimize ecological impact. The project aims to create a new way of living in which housing, nature, and well-being are closely connected, supporting both human health and ecological resilience.
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This graduation project explores how assisted living for
people with an intellectual disability can become more
socially inclusive as part of the future transformation of the
Spaanse Polder. Instead of seeing care housing as an isolated,
protected facility, the project looks at how architecture can
promote public familiarity and everyday participation.

The design combines care housing with public spaces such
as a café and library, allowing for low-threshold encounters
between residents and the neighbourhood. The different
needs of residents are reflected in two living environments:
the Sanctuary group, which is focused on a less stimulating
environment, and the Social Hub group, which is focused
on a more social environment.

The project shows that inclusive assisted living requires more
than just making things accessible; dignity, visibility and so
cial infrastructure are also important, as is the possibility for
residents to participate in everyday life at their own speed. ... Read more

This graduation project investigates how concrete can function as a future-proof structural framework for adaptable live-work environments. Developed for the transformation of the Spaanse Polder in Rotterdam, the project responds to contemporary challenges of housing shortages, the displacement of productive activities, and the need for more sustainable building strategies.

The proposal introduces an adaptable support-infill framework that combines a durable concrete structure with replaceable timber infill elements. Rather than evaluating sustainability solely through short-term carbon reduction, the project explores how longevity, adaptability, and reuse can contribute to long-term environmental performance. By integrating low-carbon concrete innovations and designing for multiple programmatic lifecycles, the framework is intended to remain relevant and adaptable over a lifespan of up to 200 years.

The building accommodates creative makers through affordable live-work typologies that support both domestic life and small-scale production. At the urban scale, the framework acts as a repeatable strategy that reconnects housing and making, contributing to a productive urban network within the evolving district. Through the integration of social inclusion, adaptability, and architectural quality, the project demonstrates how a permanent structural framework can support changing spatial, social, and economic needs over time. ... Read more

The Netherlands is currently facing a structural housing crisis that is often reduced to a purely quantitative challenge, overlooking complex spatial and social realities. At the same time, a widening socioeconomic gap has left a doubly disadvantaged group, consisting of low-income households, single elderly people, individuals with mild physical disabilities, and statusholders, struggling to secure affordable housing while lacking a robust social infrastructure to serve as a safety net.

This graduation project, “Blurring Boundaries: Designing for a social infrastructure,” seeks to address these interconnected qualitative and quantitative challenges through integrated architectural and urban design. Utilizing a “Research by Design” methodology, the project proposes a residential complex located in the Spaanse Polder, Rotterdam, acting as a transition zone between the city’s urban fabric and the productive landscape.

The core of the design is rooted in the creation of a social infrastructure that facilitates Asset-Based Community Development and builds both Bonding- and Bridging Social Capital among diverse residents. Architecturally, this is achieved through a carefully articulated hierarchy of spaces, ranging from private dwellings to shared residential groups and fully public areas. They are designed to systematically lower the threshold for casual social interaction. The project combines spatial, social, and organisational strategies to support long-term inclusion and adaptability. The building limits its overall scale to 47 dwellings to prevent anonymity and carefully balances supportive and non-supportive residents to ensure a functional community. Dwellings are clustered into residential groups of four to five units that share communal living rooms, kitchens, and outdoor spaces to foster daily mutual reliance.

To ensure long-term adaptability and ecological responsibility, the building employs a flexible,
demountable timber skeleton structure utilizing BauBuche laminated beams. This structural grid allows for adaptable floor plans of 30, 45, and 60 square meters to suit diverse and evolving household compositions. Finally, financial feasibility and sustained affordability are secured through a management cooperative model, where middle-income households cross-subsidize lower-income units. Ultimately, this research demonstrates that integrating cooperative organizational models, flexible sustainable construction, and deliberate social infrastructure can successfully empower disadvantaged groups and foster resilient, socially inclusive living environments. ... Read more

This graduation report investigates how transitional housing for individuals and families exiting crisis shelters can be architecturally and spatially integrated within the transformation of the Spaanse Polder in Rotterdam. The research addresses the gap between emergency accommodation and permanent housing, focusing on the one- to two-year transitional phase in which residents need safety, stability, autonomy, and gradual social reintegration.

Rather than approaching transitional housing as an isolated care facility, the project proposes a mixed collective housing model embedded within an emerging urban district. The design combines a balanced resident composition of one-third students, one-third residents aged 55+, and one-third people receiving a transitional housing place. Each residential floor is organised as one large shared apartment with approximately ten furnished private bedrooms. Residents share bathrooms, circulation spaces, outdoor areas, kitchens, and collective living rooms.

At the architectural scale, the project creates a gradient from private rooms to collective spaces and public neighbourhood functions. At the urban scale, a public library activates the two-story plinth and connects the building to its surroundings. In this way, the project positions transitional housing as part of ordinary urban life: safe, affordable, socially inclusive, and non-institutional.
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The Netherlands faces a significant housing shortage alongside a steady rise in single-person households, a combination that increases the risk of social isolation in daily life. This graduation project investigates how the design of shared transition zones in a mixed-use residential building can support informal social inclusion without relying on programmed activities or community management. Drawing on the theoretical work of Jan Gehl, William H. Whyte, and Richard Sennett, three spatial conditions are identified as central to everyday encounter: intimacy, visibility, and programmatic activation. These conditions are translated into three architectural principles, light, gradient, and threshold, that shape the design of a mixed-use apartment building located in the Spaanse Polder in Rotterdam. The building's stepped form ensures direct sunlight reaches a central courtyard, the spatial organisation creates a gradual transition from public to private rather than a hard boundary, and semi-private threshold zones at each dwelling entrance allow residents to be present in shared space without being exposed. Through case study analysis, research by design, and physical modelling, the project demonstrates that social inclusion in housing is less a matter of organised programming than of careful spatial design, where the gallery, courtyard, and threshold are treated as primary architectural spaces rather than residual circulation. The project concludes that meaningful collective life depends on the coexistence of encounter and retreat, and that the most socially valuable spaces in a building are often the ordinary ones that ask nothing of the people who pass through them. ... Read more

This graduation project explores how mono functional industrial areas at the urban polder edge can contribute to solving the housing crisis while preserving their economic function. Situated within the ZUS masterplan for Rodenrijs Business Park, the project proposes a housing concept in which residential units are built above an active logistics layer. Rather than replacing existing industrial activities, the design integrates living and working functions through a layered spatial approach.

The project focuses on a site located between two existing warehouses and investigates how housing, logistics, ecology, and affordability can coexist within a single development. By elevating the residential program above the logistics infrastructure, valuable land is used more efficiently while the surrounding open landscape, including Midden-Delfland, is protected from further urban expansion.

Through architectural design, phased growth strategies, and climate-responsive interventions, the project demonstrates how industrial estates can evolve into inclusive and sustainable mixed use environments. The findings contribute to a replicable model for transforming monofunctional urbanpolder edge locations across the Netherlands. ... Read more

The growing housing shortage in the Netherlands, urbanization, demographic changes, and increasing cultural diversity are placing new demands on the living environment. In cities such as Amsterdam, this leads to a greater diversity of households, lifestyles, and housing needs. At the same time, many existing buildings prove insufficiently capable of adapting to this dynamic context, as they are based on rigid floor plans and predetermined functions. As a result, spaces can only respond to a limited extent to changes in use, life phases, and societal developments, which may negatively affect both livability and social cohesion in the long term.

This research focuses on how design principles can contribute to the adaptability of residential environments across different scales: the immediate surroundings, the building block, and the individual dwelling. Adaptability is understood here as the capacity of the built environment to respond over time to changing needs and circumstances, without requiring major interventions or relocation. The theoretical framework is based on concepts such as the Shearing Layers by Stewart Brand, the frame and generic space by Bernard Leupen, and the Open Building principle by N. John Habraken, which distinguishes between permanent and adaptable elements within architecture.

Through literature research, case studies, fieldwork, and research-by-design, design strategies are analyzed and tested. The study results in a set of design guidelines that support designers in creating adaptable and future-proof residential environments. These guidelines do not prescribe fixed solutions, but rather form an adaptive framework that allows for variation, appropriation, and change, thereby contributing to a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient urban environment. ... Read more

In an age defined by technology, we are unnotably letting it numb us. Many of our modern mental health issues - such as depression, anxiety, and burnout - stem not only from stress but from a disconnection from our sensory perception. These health issues are not merely responses to external pressures but symptoms of a deeper deprivation: the erosion of our sensory lives. As we retreat further into screens and virtual spaces, our bodies fall out of rhythm with the physical world, losing touch (quite literally) with the textures, sounds, temperatures, and movements that once grounded our sense of being. This sensory starvation, often masked by quick dopamine fixes from digital devices, leaves the nervous system both exhausted and unsatisfied.

If architecture was once a mirror of cultural aspirations, it must now become a vessel for healing - a site where we can reawaken the sensorium. The urgency is clear: we need to design spaces that do not merely house us but revive us - spaces that restore balance through embodied experience, tactile materials, and certain atmospheric value related. Architecture, in this sense, becomes a form of medicine for a generation who has gone numb. ... Read more

Contemporary housing for young professionals is increasingly dominated by the studio apartment, a model that prioritizes individual autonomy but often results in social isolation, spatial inefficiency, and limited adaptability to changing life patterns. At the same time, collective housing models frequently struggle to balance communal living with the need for privacy and personal control. This graduation project explores an alternative housing typology that negotiates this tension through the architectural design of thresholds.

The Threshold House proposes a collective housing model for young professionals in which privacy and openness are not treated as fixed opposites, but as spatially graduated conditions. Drawing on spatial theory, proxemics, and theories of place attachment, the project investigates how transitional spaces, such as shared corridors, semi-private zones, and collective interiors, can function as mediating devices between the individual dwelling and the collective environment. These threshold spaces enable residents to regulate visibility, access, and social interaction, supporting both autonomy and community.

The research combines theoretical analysis with architectural design research. Case studies of collective housing and historical and contemporary spatial models are analyzed to understand how boundaries, personalization, and transitional zones influence everyday use and social behavior. These insights inform the design of a housing proposal in a high-density urban context, aimed at young professionals navigating temporary and transitional phases of living.

By reframing housing as a sequence of negotiated thresholds rather than a binary division between private and public space, the project positions the Threshold House as an alternative to the conventional studio model. The proposal demonstrates how architectural design can foster social engagement without compromising individual privacy, contributing to current debates on collective living, housing typologies, and the role of architecture in shaping everyday domestic life. ... Read more

Traditional public spaces are often experienced as vibrant places that form an important link between the city and the individual dwelling. They function not only as physical connections, but also as social spaces where encounters, interaction, and community building take place. Characteristic of these spaces is the direct relationship between the street and the front door, where residents appropriate their entrances and thereby contribute to the vibrancy and identity of the urban fabric.

In contemporary residential blocks, where dwellings are stacked and accessed through a collective entrance and corridor, this direct relationship is absent. The corridor primarily functions as a circulation space and lacks the qualities of public space. As a result, spontaneous encounters decrease and the sense of connectedness among residents diminishes. Although these corridors are physically located within the city, they are rarely considered part of the urban realm. This research examines the potential of residential corridors to function as vibrant spaces of social encounter.
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The goal of the municipality of Amsterdam is to build 150.000 houses before 2050 within the borders of Amsterdam, combined with the growing number of loneliness in Amsterdam, could result in both mental health problems and social problems. When these new houses are not planned properly, the quality of living in Amsterdam will drastically lower. Due to these problems, this research will focus on the relationship between neighbours and residents of large-scale city blocks. This will be done by researching and improving the social interaction between neighbours to lower the levels of loneliness and ensure a feeling of ‘home’ within a large-scale city block. The main research question will therefore be: How can large-scale city blocks be improved to create more opportunities for social interaction between neighbours?”. Ultimately, this research aims to find design guidelines that can be used to design a large-scale city block without undermining the unique qualities of the project.
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This paper explores the role of transition zones—the spatial and social thresholds between private dwellings and the public street—in shaping livable, safe, and socially connected urban environments. With Amsterdam as a case study, the research situates itself within the urgent context of urban densification and the construction of large-scale residential blocks. Historically, Dutch streets and stoops embodied spaces of encounter and personalization, but over time mass production, zoning laws, and functionalist housing approaches diminished the quality of these intermediary zones. Building upon the writings of Jane Jacobs, Herman Hertzberger, Jan Gehl, Aldo van Eyck, Christopher Alexander, and others, this paper argues that transition zones are crucial for stimulating social interaction, fostering a sense of ownership, and softening the divide between public and private realms. Through a literature review, case study analysis, and site-specific research on Amsterdam’s Strandeiland, this paper establishes the principles and dimensions that make transition zones successful. It further critiques contemporary large housing blocks where collective circulation spaces often fail to create meaningful social environments. The study concludes by outlining a set of architectural strategies to integrate attractive, functional, and adaptable transition zones into highdensity urban developments. The final part of this graduation project will consist of a research by design process, testing these principles in practice through the design of a new residential block in Amsterdam. ... Read more

In an era of accelerating urbanization and sensory overload, cities increasingly lack spaces that support mental restoration and emotional well-being. This graduation project explores the architectural potential of calmness as a spatial quality, using Rotterdam South- a socially diverse and often disadvantaged urban context- as both a case study and design site.

The project originates from a fascination with the growing need for tranquillity in cities and the under-addressed issue of mental health prevention. While much attention is given to treatment, little is done to proactively design for mental well-being. Mental health remains one of the four greatest burdens on the Dutch healthcare system, yet spatial responses are scarce.

Framing the design as a metaphorical pilgrimage, the project proposes a sequence of spaces that guide visitors from stress toward serenity. Extensive fieldwork, literature review, and sensory mapping were conducted to identify environmental stressors and urban relaxants, resulting in a conceptual framework of public, social, and personal space. This framework informed the proposal for a Centre for Calmness in Vreewijk, a historical garden suburb in Rotterdam South.

The centre includes a bathhouse, therapy facility, tea house, library, gallery, and workshop space- each embodying elements of introspection, cleansing, and community. The bathhouse in particular draws from historical typologies where collective bathing offered both ritual and refuge. The architectural design seeks to merge collective gathering with private contemplation, creating a balance between vibrancy and tranquillity.

The thesis also proposes a transferable pattern language for designing calming spaces, supported by a set of architectural guidelines and potential future locations for a broader calmness network across Rotterdam South. This dual focus- on a singular spatial anchor and a scalable urban strategy- aims to influence how cities address mental well-being through design.

Ultimately, this project advocates for architecture that heals, reconnects, and restores. It positions the built environment not merely as a backdrop to life, but as an active participant in the mental resilience of its inhabitants.
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