Woonhuis, Frederik van Egmontstraat 1

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction.

A block of WORKERS' DWELLINGS located in the De Muntel district of Den Bosch, bounded by the F. van Egmontstraat, W. Mariastraat, Van IJsselsteinstraat and the W. van Nassaulaan. The block, designed in 1931, was built in 1933 by architect P.M. Knoers ('s-Hertogenbosch) in a style combining Traditionalism with Cubist-Expressionism. The initial plans were drawn up on behalf of housing association 'Eigen Bezit', but ultimately housing association 'St. Joseph' (now SWH) carried them out—with slight modifications. N.V. Provinciaal Bouwbedrijf executed the work. On the Van IJsselsteinstraat a stone panel with the inscription 'BOUWVEREENIGING ST. JOSEPH ANNO 1931'. The block comprises a total of 45 residential units with eleven different dwelling types. At the same time, Knoers realized 23 similar residential units on a site at the A. van Gelderstraat / W. Mariastraat, which fall outside this protection. The housing association 'St. Joseph' was founded in 1919 on the initiative of the Den Bosch branch of the 'Rooms Katholieke Bond voor Grote Gezinnen' (Roman Catholic Association for Large Families), established a year earlier. The aim was to combat the shockingly high housing shortage among large working-class families. The present object is part of the second housing complex realized by 'St. Joseph' in De Muntel. Particularly through renovations in 1969 and 1990, the dwellings were modernized internally to an almost complete extent. The numerous bedrooms were combined to create larger spaces. Window panes, originally with horizontal glazing bars, were largely simplified.

Description.

Closed, symmetrical housing block with an interior courtyard on a rectangular footprint. With the exception of the W. van Nassaulaan, the dwellings have a front garden with a small garden wall. The interior courtyard is accessed via a Y-shaped corridor system, reached through a central gate located on the F. van Egmondstraat. On the interior courtyard rear gardens with garden sheds and garden walls.

On all four sides two-storey terraced dwellings with a roof storey under gabled roofs covered with red improved Dutch tiles, parallel to the street. On the four corners and on either side of the gate, dwellings with different design. The block-shaped corner dwellings on the W. van Nassaulaan are three- and partly four-storey under a flat roof with roof tiles, corner extension on reinforced concrete and balcony on the short side of the block. The corner dwellings with recessed corner on the F. van Egmondstraat are two-storey with a roof storey under gabled roofs placed perpendicular to each other, at right angles to the street. High-rising chimneys, gables with very low roof edge. Gate dwellings on the F. van Egmondstraat on either side of the round-arched gate built in brick and red ceramic tiles with similar low gabled roofs, at right angles to the street. The brickwork, executed in running bond, is enlivened by the alternating use of dark (plinth and speckled courses) and yellow Flemish brick. Further detailing: stepped, partly continuous guttering, mostly projecting, on the W. van Nassaulaan partly bedded; entrance areas under canopies of reinforced concrete on decorative piers; original façade openings with simplified windows. Noteworthy are the authentic slot windows, simplified triangular windows and roof dormer windows with horizontal glazing bar in the corner dwellings. Although internally rigorously modernized, the dwellings still give a good impression of the original layout. The block consists mainly of single-family dwellings. Only in the corner volumes on the W. van Nassaulaan are there upper and lower dwellings. Most dwellings have a living room on the ground floor, nowadays usually enlarged by incorporating the original front room, as well as a kitchen, toilet and storage room. The numerous bedrooms on the first floor and the roof storey recall the large working-class families housed in this block. Especially the corner and gate dwellings (four to eight bedrooms) are characteristic in this respect.

Valuation.

The block of workers' dwellings is of general importance. The object has cultural-historical value as a particular memorial to the great housing shortage among large working-class families in the early 1930s; on account of its significance for the development and target-group policy of housing associations; as an expression of the development of Roman Catholic associational life regarding tasks in the social sphere. Furthermore, on account of its significance for the typological development of closed building blocks. The object has architectural-historical value on account of the significance of the fairly rare style combination employed for architectural history and furthermore on account of the aesthetic qualities of the detailing. The object has ensemble value as part of the De Muntel district. The object is of importance on account of the external completeness of the main form in relation to the visual and structural integrity of the urban environment.