The historic city centre of Groningen is a dense and diverse environment. Building in this context comes with its own special challenges.

For this project we were asked to realise a big retail space, spanning three lots, including a basement, right next to a national monument.
The lack of a building site resulted in the elevator shaft doubling as the position for the tower crane. The structure is constructed from the inside out.
The retail space is finished, and open for business. Meanwhile, work continues on the roof, where ten apartments have been realised. Elevated from the busy street with a vast view of the urban landscape, these apartments offer qualities that many old dwellings in the city lack: light, air, view, tranquillity.
The facade is inspired by classical facade compositions. It has a base, a body and a head with a crown. In the street, the building acts as a connecting element between old and new.

image:egbertdeboerfotografie