2021 - ongoing

Carnisse Eiland, Rotterdam

2021 - ongoing

Carnisse Eiland, Rotterdam

Carnisse Eiland is a new residential area in Rotterdam South where greenery, recreation, play and meeting are of central importance.

Location

Rotterdam

Client

Gemeente Rotterdam

Collaboration

Keizer Koopmans, Over Morgen

Surface Area

7.7 ha

After winning a closed competition, there was an intensive collaboration with the municipality of Rotterdam and various interested market parties to achieve a suitable and qualitative composition of the program and test the plan’s financial feasibility. Because the work is being done within the framework of the State’s contribution to the housing impulse, the majority of the 500 homes to be realized will be in the affordable segment.

In line with the ideas of Jan Gehl, special attention was paid to the human scale and interaction of local residents. The zoning of quiet and liveliness and the layout of private, shared and public spaces were essential in the design process for this new park neighbourhood.

Elements such as a broad transition zone at the front door, communal courtyard gardens and a central plaza stimulate meeting people and social security. Where inner-city densification projects in the Netherlands often lead to a one-sided supply of high-rise buildings, a sophisticated mix per building block was designed for Carnisse Eiland. This urban mix prevents anonymity and strengthens residents’ relationship with their street.

 

Carnisse Eiland will be a new park neighbourhood with greenery as its most important qualitative identity carrier. The urban structure consists mainly of half-open building blocks interspersed with height accents and the parking of cars and bicycles is entirely indoors and out of sight. Two schools are situated on the western and eastern edges of the plan, which are connected by a green axis in the middle of the plan. The natural and sheltered spaces along the central green axis offer space to play and relax. For example, in the centre of the plan, there is a large car-free area with a new neighbourhood square, and several wadis function as temporary storage of rainwater but are also natural and exciting playgrounds.