Between Shed and Polder
An Adaptive Framework for Living with Industry
D.Y. Heidema (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
O. Klijn – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
R.S. Guis – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Paul W. Chan – Mentor (TU Delft - Design & Construction Management)
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Abstract
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.