Loevesteinstraat, Breda

On the eastern outskirts of Breda, in the district of the IJpelaar, the Loevesteinstraat undergoes a true metamorphosis. The two most notable buildings are the large residential apartment buildings - Zorgvliet and Doenrade (built in the 70s).

They are large in size - 160 and 210 meters long and 9 storeys high. They originally were grey in colour due to the significant amounts of concrete and very monotonous in appearance due to the systematic way of the buildings construction.

To make the thorough renovation financially feasible, we chose to build new extensions to the existing buildings. The existing, oversized, concrete structure provided the opportunity to expand on all sides of the building: one extra storey on top, for spacious apartments with large balconies and maximised daylight and an additional tower with smaller apartments were built on both end façades of the existing building. Finally, the ground floor was expanded to accommodate bicycle storage rooms and garages along with additional storage and several expanded and identifiable entrance halls.