"City within the city"

Abstract

This graduation project investigates the adaptive reuse of the SFF Bosch Gebouw in Strijp-S, Eindhoven, as a strategy for transforming a vacant post-war office building into a hybrid environment for living, working and collective occupation. Constructed during the industrial expansion of Philips, the building is characterized by its repetitive prefabricated concrete facade system, deep structural grid and large-span floor plates, reflecting the technological optimism and industrial logic of post-war modernism.
Rather than approaching the building’s current limitations as justification for demolition, the project explores how its existing structural framework can accommodate new forms of occupation through spatial interventions. The proposal is based on three interconnected design themes: reprogramming for hybrid occupation, daylight as a spatial driver, and the reintegration of the building within its surrounding landscape.

Programmatically, the project responds to the new residential developments introduced through the ongoing Redevelopment Phase 4 of Strijp-S. As the surrounding area shifts from an industrial district to a mixed urban neighborhood, the proposal transforms the former mono-functional office building into a hybrid environment that accommodates living, working and collective activities. Structured through different degrees of publicness, the project creates a gradual transition between public, semi-private and private environments.

At its center, the hybrid core acts as a social condenser that connects residential, working and collective programs while maintaining clear spatial thresholds between them. Beyond programmatic transformation, the project addresses the environmental limitations of the existing deep-plan building. The research identifies the deep floor plate and limited daylight penetration as key architectural challenges. In response, the project develops a combined daylight strategy that includes facade subtractions, sectional voids, skylights and stepped massing interventions. These operations reveal the depth of the existing structure and transform previously underutilized interior areas into collective spaces organized around a hybrid core.

Finally, the transformation extends beyond the building envelope through the integration of landscape interventions and the reuse of removed prefabricated facade elements as planting and public-space components. By working within the existing structural logic rather than replacing it, the project demonstrates how the SFF Bosch Gebouw can be reactivated as a contemporary urban environment while preserving the spatial and material qualities
embedded within its industrial heritage.