This project explores the problems of a lack of housing in the Netherlands, the inevitable city expansion in the future and the current linearity of the construction and agriculture industries. It aims to tackle housing needs through self-building and to establish a more nurturing and participatory connection between users and their environment through a regenerative approach to architecture. The vernacular building practices of the Hallenhuis in Drenthe are translated into tangible knowledge regarding materials, connections and tools as to propose a technical framework for a self-build design. The study is guided by the main question: How can we translate the relationship of Vernacular Architecture in Drenthe with its landscape to applicable knowledge for regenerative self-building in the modern context? In three chapters, the socio-economic roles and tectonic relationship of the Hallenhuis farm with their landscape, the opportunities and implications of a future regenerative production of building materials and the applicability of vernacular practices to modern self-building are discussed. The paper presents data on the geographical, material, economic, social and technical layers of the Hallenhuis typology and its surroundings. The evident relation between a regenerative approach and self-build architecture is accompanied by the complexity of problems and opportunities regarding the implementation of a regenerative building material network. The conclusions indicate further research is desirable and could consist of comparative studies across regions, quantification of environmental impacts and expansion of the field scope to food production, Urbanism or Landscape Design.

In response to the environmental challenges posed by the construction industry's extensive use of concrete, this research focuses on the reuse of load-bearing concrete elements from end-of-life buildings. Emphasizing the 'Design for Reuse' (DfReu) principle, the study aims to integrate reclaimed concrete into new construction projects. Four chapters delve into construction techniques, concrete reclamation methods, demountable integration, and a practical case study of the former Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. The findings mark the feasibility of reclaiming structurally sound concrete, with the case study revealing substantial environmental benefits. This research contributes valuable insights to the global call for circularity in construction practices, urging a paradigm shift towards sustainability and adaptability.

The tourism industry has experienced significant growth over recent decades, resulting in overcrowding and carrying capacity issues in concentrated tourist areas (mass tourism). This influx strains local resources, especially water supply systems, in regions prone to scarcity, such as (semi-)arid and remote areas like islands. Many Thai islands, reliant on tourism, face water shortages exacerbated during high tourist seasons and periods of low rainfall. Inadequate wastewater management further pollutes local ecosystems as untreated wastewater is discharged into the sea, contaminating seawater and groundwater alike. The growth of mass tourism on these islands not only leads to ecological damage but also erodes cultural heritage, as traditional structures are increasingly replaced by modern resorts. My graduation project, “Modern Sala,” addresses these impacts by transforming a site into a recreational space for local residents. It emphasizes environmental awareness through sustainable water management, local material use, and natural integration. Modern Sala seeks self-sufficiency by cultivating food, reusing water, and purifying seawater for safe public swimming, restoring part of the environment to the community. Flexible, multi-purpose spaces adapt to evolving needs, positioning the project as a model for balanced, community-focused tourism development.

To address the current housing shortage, new houses must be added, but at the same time many existing houses need to be made more sustainable to meet climate goals. This project explores the potential for densifying and revitalizing post-war neighborhoods. It builds upon the original design principles of these neighborhoods light, air, space, and living in green environments, reinterpreting them for modern needs. The balance between private and public spaces is subtly reshaped, enhancing social control within the community. The monotonous neighborhood is densified by adding smaller, more diverse housing units on top of existing houses. This is made possible by removing the heavy exterior of the existing buildings and renovate with lightweight biobased materials, which at the same time ensure better insulation of the existing home. These materials offer a sustainable alternative for current construction materials and are gaining popularity. Designers must understand their properties and how to effectively use them, the research focuses on gaining more insight in these materials. The results of the study include schemes that allow the different alternatives to be compared using various criteria. The top-ups accommodate diverse household types, connected by a second-floor gallery that links the different rows of houses. On the south side, this gallery is designed wider to provide an outdoor space for residents, encouraging neighborly interactions. Transitions between private outdoor areas and collective gardens and streets are subtly defined, ensuring privacy while promoting interaction and social control. Ultimately, the design offers a sustainable solution to the housing crisis by densifying and upgrading existing homes, while revitalizing post-war neighborhoods.

Industrial production techniques can be used to reduce the current housing shortage in the Netherlands, industrialising the construction process ensures a quicker and more sustainable way of increasing the housing stock. However, the risk that comes with the standardisation of architecture is a generalisation of the built environment. We have seen this narrative before in Dutch housing history, when after the Second World War cities and villages were quickly expanded using a system-building approach to housing and neighbourhood development. This soon sparked up critiques, one of them coming from Kenneth Frampton. Frampton argued that modern architecture is shaped by its ways of production and that architecture can only resist universalisation by designing with the elements arising indirectly from the site, which he explained through the theory of critical regionalism. This theory, combined with case studies on context-specific housing and prefabrication systems is used to write the research paper. This paper investigates the dichotomy between specificity and repetition in the architecture of housing projects to find a strategy for designing context-specific industrial housing. This design approach is then used to create a design for a desification of the post-war neighbourhood stamp found in Boerhaavewijk. The design is formed by its surrounding (urban) landscape, to create a neighbourhood with a strong local identity that reactivates the urban environment. The local peat landscape is sourced to form a system of prefabricated 2D and 3D elements that construct the buildings. Reintroducing the historic peat landscape on site will reactivate the public space, by removing the dominance of the car from the street and returning it, through nature, to the inhabitants while also functioning as a climatic buffer and a resource for the newly added homes. This way, the new architecture can direct the post-war neighbourhood away from its monotony and anonymity towards a rooted and distinctive neighbourhood.

This research explores methods to revitalise deteriorating Dutch mass housing neighbourhoods, with a primary focus on Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Despite the Netherlands’ rich public housing tradition, the country is now experiencing a major housing shortage, while at the same time post-war public housing flats are being demolished at an alarming rate. Even though the social, cultural and material values of this heritage are widely recognised, demolition and new construction remains the de facto method for urban renewal in this context.
This thesis takes the position that to preserve the postwar heritage of the western garden cities, it is necessary to go beyond the legislative protection of cityscapes or the conservation of individual buildings. Instead, the garden city project must be continued, and its founding ideals of light, space and air adapted to the needs of today. Interventions should aim beyond sufficiency and take advantage of the potential of the existing structures to be transformed into generous and high-quality dwellings. To prevent further privatisation and demolition of the social housing stock, this project aims to turn the porch flat into a desirable alternative to the single-family home. By reconnecting the buildings to their surroundings and supporting community development, the negative stigma surrounding collective housing can be overcome to position it as a viable alternative to the prevailing ideology of homeownership. To show that by re-using the existing, and doing more with less, we can meet today’s housing needs while remaining within our planetary boundaries.

The project addresses the mass demolition and reconstruction of post-war housing complexes in the Netherlands. It’s relevance is based on the negative ecological impact embedded within the production of building material, the waste production of demolition and the neglect of architectural heritage in common renewal practice.

It proposes an alternative method of solving the need for renewal in most post-war housing complexes through a radically circular transformation strategy. This strategy is based on three steps: preserve, reuse, reclaim. A porch flat ensemble in the area of Geuzenveld, Amsterdam Nieuw-West, is used as the design case.

A research was conducted in preparation of the design. It’s main research question: “how can renovation with reclaimed materials become a feasible alternative to reconstruction of the current housing stock?”. From this research, the application of reclaimed insulation and finishing material, was indicated to be highly effective strategies of mitigating the ecological impact of a renovation task. These findings have been incorporated into the design.

The project resulted in a transformation design of the porch flat ensemble that saves 1.808.751 kg CO2-eq and 26.122.919 MJ of energy in terms of material use, relative to a conventional reconstruction design.

The research dives into Amsterdam Nieuw-West, exploring the principles of Western Garden Cities and the use of adaptability in the construction process. The Western Garden Cities are an elaboration of Cornelis van Eesteren's Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan (General Expansion Plan) from 1935. This city district is part of the Western Garden Cities and has recently been listed by the National Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands to have national importance. This area is listed because of the meaningful urban plan and the execution of it after World War II. However, in the 1980s, the Western Garden Cities even became synonymous with squalor, crime and social problems. The current housing stock is considered obsolete, both architecturally and physically. The area faces many problems and threats, making it an ideal location for transformation and renewal. Recognizing the pressing housing crisis and the urgent need to transform existing buildings in a circular way, the research looks into innovative approaches of building with adaptability, to efficiently revitalize this city district. The research proposes design guidelines for the transformation of porch flats, the most common building typology, in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. It is the repetition and the recognisability of these residential buildings that allows for improvements. The guidelines are a list of intervention strategies that can be implemented in the transformation of the post-war porch flats in Nieuw-West, they respect the heritage status of the neighbourhood and are complemented by a set of adaptability strategies. These guidelines are a helpful tool for transforming porch flats in the area with a diverse range of small interventions. However, the guidelines don't form definitive answers, but are rather a flexible framework which is useful as a starting point in the design process.
The design case is located at the Johan Jongkindstraat, close to Lelylaan station.The plot has 6 porch flats with a residential function and 5 smaller buildings with both a residential and public function. The design project forms the location in order to implement the design guidelines provided by the research and forms an example of how to transform in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. The design carefully looked at the design guidelines and implemented them. It also looked at site-specific interventions that were needed to increase living comfort. With the right design interventions, connections were made, repetition was broken, heritage was preserved with new improvements related to current wishes and the entire plan was future-proofed. This project goes beyond monotony and shows that with these interventions, the satisfactory scores in the Western Garden Cities can improve.

Steel production stands out as one of the most energy-intensive industries globally. Shifting towards a more circular system could be achieved by component reuse. Unfortunately, there is lack of information on how to assess the reuse potential of diverse steel components. This research paper focuses on developing an assessment method for the reuse potential of thirteen common steel product groups. Components found in three case-study buildings on the TU Delft Campus are categorized into these product groups and assessed for their reuse potential. The research process includes: compiling an inventory of components, identifying factors impacting the reuse process and conducting a value assessment. A design for a new circular campus building was made with the suitable components. The goal of this design project was gaining more knowledge on how to implement reused steel components into a design, experience the complications involved, but also explore the possibilities it could offer.

Graduation thesis about the transformation of Schalkwijk shopping centre, from a retail function to a movement hub with several sports facilities. Research preliminary to the design explores the movement patterns of the mall visitor from 1970 till 2023 and how the movement among mall visitors can be stimulated in order to revitalize the mall.

How to adapt the Polish Large Panel concrete system housing to increase the living diversity with modular architecture? This graduation topic aligns with the Architectural Engineering studio approach and the master track's emphasis on integrating technology and exploring circular adaptation strategies. The design of Plug & Live: Modular Adaptation of Polish Large Panel Concrete Housing is linked to the foundational concept of adaptable and flexible architecture, incorporating a user-based selection principle and activating roofscapes by greenery enhancement, energy production and water harvesting. Given the multi-layered nature of this approach, the primary challenge in the design study was distilling the minimum viable approach while still showcasing the potential for diverse architectural outcomes and evolution over time. This design philosophy represents a notable departure from conventional building practices, emphasizing a shift away from static structures towards designs capable of evolution led by dynamic change of the residents’ living needs.

Academically, this research adds the Polish perspective to the adaptive reuse discourse by exploring how architectural interventions can preserve the heritage from the 60s and 70s cultural, social and spatial significance while meeting future needs and improving the spatial, energetical and aesthetical values. By examining the exemplary W-70 system from Poland, which shares historical and architectural similarities to the prefab systems from other countries, this research provides valuable insights and recommendations that can inform the debate on future-proof adaptation strategies addressing the pressing need for affordable social housing in these regions. As a result, the neglected yet ubiquitous post-Soviet housing stock can become architecture beyond political ideologies, trends or profit-driven market.

The design proposal incorporates research findings while delineating between individual and community-based choices across various architectural tiers. Commencing at the smallest scale, XS (façade), where each panel offers customization options, it progresses to the S scale (apartment), enabling residents to expand their living spaces with winter gardens and green terraces. Transitioning to the M scale (cluster), new rooftop additions are introduced, followed by the L scale (block), where buildings are distinguished by unique color and material identities. This progression culminates at the XL scale (neighborhood), where each subsequent estate obtains its distinct identity through diverse façade compositions and elements, while adhering to the overarching design strategy.Ultimately, the establishment of the design minimum provides a starting point for subsequent extensions that contribute additional values across social, economic, and environmental dimensions, all while preserving the unique identity and individuality of buildings at various scales. 

This paper examines how comfort is experienced at Dutch post-war shopping centers by studying the behavior of users. Since the development of the first shopping center in the Netherlands, the Lijnbaan in Rotterdam, retail spaces served as public spaces for the neighborhood where community life could emerge. Throughout the years, new typologies for retail spaces were introduced, to respond to the evolving public life of society. To be able to continue fulfilling the needs that the modern consumer seeks in a public space, it is important to understand how shopping centers are currently valued by its users. Comfort is a basic need that influences the value of a space and helps stimulate other needs
such as passive engagement, active engagement, relaxation and discovery. By methods of observational analysis, results are collected on the different ways in which people experience comfort while walking, standing and sitting at shopping centers. These show a strong relationship with the objects, functions, building design elements and natural design elements with the space.

Many species that are dependent on buildings are beginning to appear as more and more species of nature learn to adapt to city life. In the same vein, the concurrent loss of biodiversity presents a problem for the planning of vertical greening. This article attempts to explore the combination of animal nesting and vertical greening to develop a more species-friendly environment. The end goal is to create a flexible, easy-to-maintain, demountable, modular vertical greening system that can respond to changes in the ecosystem.

This Master Thesis is an attempt to address the lack of a sufficient number of affordable and qualitative student housing by creating an experimental, universal design strategy called MODULE+, combining computational design and modular architecture. The strategy consists of three main elements - individually designed flexible timber modules, an algorithm that generates the functional layout of the building based on them and optimizes it in relation to selected objectives, as well as carefully selected further design directions that allow the transformation of the generated solutions into a qualitative living environment. The developed strategy became the basis for the design of a complex of residential buildings for students within the TU Delft Campus.

The Hofbogen has already undergone significant redevelopment after being out of service since 2002. This includes the establishment of the Luchtsingel roof park in 2015 and the ongoing construction until 2024 to transform the empty roof of the Hofbogen line into a nature-inclusive park. Within this existing masterplan, the project seeks to add value by proposing a building addition to the Hofbogen infrastructure at the Bergweg station. One of the key challenges in designing a biodiverse park on a rooftop is water management. The engineering aspect of the project is crucial for working with the existing structure to create architecture that generates positive output for the park, the area, and its users. The project gives emphasis on the conscious choice of materials and is attentive to their lifecycle implications. In the context of the contemporary building industry, it is necessary to support the principles of reuse and demountability and the use of existing structures. Consequently, the project is designed to be constructed on top of an existing structure within the urban fabric, and represents a demountable building approach that utilizes highly adaptable building pieces capable of accommodating change. Overall, this graduation project aligns with the architectural engineering studio's focus on designing ecological and socially responsible architecture while contributing to a sustainable development of Rotterdam's urban landscape.

There is an urgent need to address the shortage of student housing in Delft. However, the current design approach for student housing often fails to prioritize the creation of high-quality private spaces as well as social connections between individual housing units. While addressing the pressing need for more student housing, it is essential to reimagine the design of newly built accommodations to cater to both the private and social needs of students without compromising affordability.
The focus of the thematic research paper is to enhance the visual quality of students' private spaces through the use of computational evaluation. Recognizing the significance of factors like daylighting, outdoor views, and privacy in residential architecture, the study emphasizes the need to explicitly consider these factors during the early stages of the design process. By developing a parametric evaluation model, this research aims to evaluate visual quality in student dwellings and inform design decisions. The model is constructed based on conclusions drawn from literature review, interviews, and experimentation to identify visual quality parameters and provide clear visual data through heatmaps and number tags. This data helps highlight areas for improvement and allows for comparisons between different design alternatives.
The resulting project, Campus Village Delft, addresses the increased quality of private spaces by maximizing the hours of direct sunlight, view distance, and visual exposure representing the level of privacy. At the same time, the project aspires to create a community between the students, through carefully designed collective spaces, where unintentional encounters with your neighbors create a greater sense of belongingness.

This paper investigates the potential of passively lowering the operational energy requirement of performance buildings in the Central European Climate. The energy consumption of this typology is largely caused by mechanical ventilation to cool and ventilate the theatre during shows, necessary for the thermal comfort and ventilation requirements of the audience. Mechanical ventilation in theatres needs to significantly over-provide ventilation air in order to cool, and the exhaust air is not allowed to be mixed with incoming air, making them are inherently inefficient. Passive design strategies can lower the energy requirement of buildings during operation, by efficiently using ambient elements and simple laws of physics. Berlin, which perfectly embodies Central European’s climate, experiences strong seasonal climate variations. In the hotter summer months, there is a low ambient cooling potential. However, the climatic conditions are sufficient for a direct connection between the theatre and the ambient air, which would result in no need for HVAC during operation. There is a high ambient cooling potential in autumn, winter and spring. This potential can be fulfilled by efficiently integrating thermal mass, indirect evaporative cooling in the roof of the theatre, radiative cooling in the ceiling of the theatre, natural ventilation through buoyancy stack effect or wind-driven cross ventilation. These methods are addressed on macro scale and deserve micro scale validation of a site before implementation.

This project investigates the possibilities of the biobased material reed from local sources to reduce embodied energy emissions in the building sector. The drained wetlands in the Netherlands release carbon into the atmosphere leading to the inability of the wetlands to serve as carbon sinks and habitats. The rewetting of polders leads to the opportunity to grow more wetland crops. The research asks what the possibilities of locally harvested reed as a building material and its use in different building elements are linked to the whole lifecycle of Common Reed (Phragmites Australis) as a plant.

To grow this multifunctional crop on the Poelpolder on the outskirts of the city of Haarlem the rewetting of the polder is necessary. Thus, with the aid of the activity centre, the polder is transformed into a productive green fringe and adds a multipurpose to the recreational zone. It can be integrated into the residents’ daily life by providing communal functions such as a participatory kitchen and professional functions for the development and testing of reed.

The project is a case study to use common reed as arches for the load-bearing structure and show the possibilities and challenges of this biobased material.

The site is located on Heertjeslaan, TU Delft Campus South. The main problem is the contradiction between social needs and the campus development plan. On the one hand, the student housing corporation DUWO plans to build student housing on the site, which can help alleviate the student housing shortage in Delft. On the other hand, TU Delft is developing the Campus South area into an innovative hub, providing more places for institutes and companies. The campus claims that the student housing can only serve for 15 years until the arrival of the companies. However, it is unreasonable to demolish the existing student housing due to the increasing student amount and housing demands. The project aims to design an adaptable timber building that is convertible and expandable from student housing towards a mix-use community with a low cost. In the first 15 years, the project will be affordable and livable student housing (Phase I). After that, the site will be developed into a research & business area as a part of the 'innovative hub', accepting institutes and companies to settle in. The building can be partly transformed into offices, labs, and studios for the institutes and companies and can gradually expand if needed. Finally, the building might develop into a mix-use community with residential, research and business programs (Phase II). In this way, Campus South can become an innovation hub as planned and, at the same time, takes responsibility for the student housing shortage.The research is closely connected with the design part. It aims to evaluate the adaptability of multi-storey timber buildings by analysing the independence of shearing layers, mainly focusing on the joint design between building elements. The paper compared two cases, the Library and Seminar Centre (Case 1) and Pile up Giesshübel (Case 2), to determine how joint design affects the adaptability under the scene of altering the function using the Dependency Structure Matrix model. The clustering analysis studied the dependencies between the building elements and classified elements into shearing layers. It found that Case 1 has fewer dependencies between elements and can be better decomposed into independent layers than Case 2. The impact analysis studied the propagation impact of chosen elements in the space plan, skin and services layers. It proved that Case 1 is much more adaptable than the other case when changing the space plan and services due to its relevantly detached joint design in critical positions. Besides, the two cases both show good adaptability when changing the skin. The paper provides a methodology, based on Brand's 'shearing layers' model, to verify an existing building's adaptability or assist in designing a new adaptable building.