Buitenburen Almere
A precedent for integrating large structural brick arches with lush landscape and residential courtyards to create activated community spaces.
- What we like about this project
- Vines climb densely up the inside walls of the massive brick archway, blurring the line between architecture and landscape.
Materials
- brick
- timber
- glass
- planting
- metal
Visual identifiers
- brick-arch
- courtyard
- string-lights
- climbing-plants
- communal-seating
Style tags
- contemporary
- contextual
- biophilic
Visual tags
- courtyard
- adaptive-reuse
- community
- landscape-integration
- twilight
- Geometry
- A massive semicircular brick arch frames the foreground threshold, looking outward into a landscaped residential courtyard flanked by multi-story apartment facades.
- Facade system
- Heavy masonry arch structure in the foreground; glazed and balconied residential facades in the background.
- Structural guess
- Heavy masonry arch with surrounding concrete or steel frame residential structures.
- Spatial scale
- Large courtyard space framed by a multi-story residential perimeter; intimate seating at ground level scaled for small gatherings.
- Lighting
- Warm twilight illumination from hanging string lights mixed with soft ambient daylight filtering through mature trees.
- Atmosphere
- Inviting, lively, and warm evening atmosphere balancing industrial mass with soft vegetation.
- Environmental context
- Dense residential infill courtyard sheltered beneath a heavy brick infrastructure element, possibly a converted railway viaduct or bridge.
- Spatial experience
- Moving from the compressed, sheltered vault of the archway opens into a vibrant, human-scaled communal courtyard filled with greenery and social seating.
- Composition rhythm
- The massive foreground arch creates a dramatic framing device that contrasts with the rhythmic punched balconies of the background residential blocks.
- Style reading
- Contemporary contextual architecture with adaptive reuse elements
- Program
- Residential courtyard and communal public realm
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- brick, timber, glass, planting, metal
- Visual identifiers
- brick-arch, courtyard, string-lights, climbing-plants, communal-seating
- Style tags
- contemporary, contextual, biophilic
- Visual tags
- courtyard, adaptive-reuse, community, landscape-integration, twilight
- Geometry
- A massive semicircular brick arch frames the foreground threshold, looking outward into a landscaped residential courtyard flanked by multi-story apartment facades.
- Facade system
- Heavy masonry arch structure in the foreground; glazed and balconied residential facades in the background.
- Structural guess
- Heavy masonry arch with surrounding concrete or steel frame residential structures.
- Spatial scale
- Large courtyard space framed by a multi-story residential perimeter; intimate seating at ground level scaled for small gatherings.
- Lighting
- Warm twilight illumination from hanging string lights mixed with soft ambient daylight filtering through mature trees.
- Atmosphere
- Inviting, lively, and warm evening atmosphere balancing industrial mass with soft vegetation.
- Environmental context
- Dense residential infill courtyard sheltered beneath a heavy brick infrastructure element, possibly a converted railway viaduct or bridge.
- Spatial experience
- Moving from the compressed, sheltered vault of the archway opens into a vibrant, human-scaled communal courtyard filled with greenery and social seating.
- Composition rhythm
- The massive foreground arch creates a dramatic framing device that contrasts with the rhythmic punched balconies of the background residential blocks.
- Style reading
- Contemporary contextual architecture with adaptive reuse elements
- Program
- Residential courtyard and communal public realm
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture