Marcel van Neer & Guido Neijens
a room with a view. Academie voor Bouwkunst (The Netherlands)
44 dwellings, 16 guest-rooms & revitalization ‘t Steel, Roermond
‘t Steel, an island surrounded by the Roer river is currently a fascinating empty space close to the city centre of Roermond. The E.C.I., a deserted industrial complex marks, together with the always present possibility of flooding, the character of the site. This promising emptiness is compromised bij the current economical pressure and the consequently planned proposals don’t justify the qualities and possibilities of the island.
The design consists of a new condensed structure in which housing for seniors together with guest-rooms are bundled around communal courts. This approach tries to conserve the present atmosphere of the site. The courtyard has a social importance and becomes a place of acting, talking, movement and openness, so making it possible to keep the outer-facade relatively closed and austere.
On an urban scale a sequence of spacial diversity is implemented from the public entrance of the site to the communal courtyards thus making it possible to wade through the entire structure, creating a natural transition between the public and the private.
The landscape design uses the already present materials, spacial and geological characteristics of the site. Rather then a fixed design, the appearance of the island is never final and is defined by the floods, the natural succession and the influence of the different users of the island on these processes.
The E.C.I. - complex will become a place of cultural production: weiterbauen . Minimal strategic interventions repair the infrastructure of the building and preserve the raw industrial atmosphere and the startling sequential spaces. A place for musicians, visitors and residents will take shape in this now deserted factory.
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