Woonhuis, Boogschutterstraat 2 A

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

Description of complex component 1

The BLOK HOOGBOUW (236 dwellings) consists of a layout of two carrés, unequal in size. Each consists of a u-shaped block along the outer side and a fourth, detached wing within it. The two carrés are separated from each other by a road, the Koningstabelstraat. This intersection is accentuated with a gate-like element consisting of a lightly arched, brick connection arch between the outer building blocks. On the inner terrain, on either side of the Koningstabelstraat but at unequal distances from it, lies the fourth wing of each carré. On the short sides of these wings are the rows of garage boxes. This layout has led to an ingenious urban planning structure of two green courtyards within a large carré, whereby the two opposite detached wings form an inner square-like space. In contrast to the carré of single-family dwellings, this carré is accessed from the outside, respectively the Koningstabelstraat.

The structure of the wings consists of a semi-basement layer with storage rooms, above which three storeys are closed off by a cornice on corbels and a flat roof. Above this, a roof structure is erected at regular intervals so that alternately a fourth storey exists. On the short sides and the detached wings these are located at the corner. On the long sides they are precisely set inward. This fourth layer is always five bays wide and covered with a shallow gabled roof with grey old Dutch tiles. On the roofs stand substantial, brick chimneys. The carrés have recessed corners on the outside, whereby one side facade is executed with windows and the other blind. The whole is erected in red brick with vertical accents in the form of a plinth and concrete bands under and above the windows of the slightly raised ground floor. Although the windows themselves have a vertical, upright form, they emphasise the horizontal articulation of the facade through their strictly maintained rhythm.

In the vertical sense the wings are articulated by the structure of three, respectively four storeys. Each of these parts is in principle five bays wide with the entrance to the dwellings in the middle. The short sides consist, at the small block, of three such units and at the large block of four. The long sides each have six with the proviso that one bay here is not five, but three window axes wide. The entrance to the dwellings consists of a shallow porch with an arched top. In this is set a concrete portal subdivided into one broad and two narrow divisions on either side. In the middle one is the actual entrance and in the two narrow sections the letterboxes. The remaining sections have a glass filling. Above each entrance is a decoration applied. This consists of a concrete plate which in its form recalls Roman cartouches. In this is a relief with a different representation per door. The representations depict labour situations such as construction, fishing, retail trade and shipping. The windows are executed as two-light windows with a concrete mullion below a matching lintel. Below the ground floor windows is a concrete element applied that gives the suggestion of a French balcony. The surround of the windows is whitewashed. The facades on the side of the inner courtyard show in principle the same arrangement, with the proviso that the middle bays are summarised in a surround within which loggias are arranged, closed off by concrete mullions and wooden railings.

The interior of the blocks consists of a hallway behind the front door from which the staircase by means of landings on either side provides access to a dwelling. The stairs are executed in concrete with simple iron railings with wooden treads. The walls are executed in fair-faced brickwork. The dwellings are not equal in layout as these were designed for two, three, five and seven persons. The main layout consists of a broad aisle, in which two rooms en suite and a narrower aisle, in which hallway, kitchen, sanitary facilities and alternately a (bed)room.

The two detached wings show the same structure, both in facade appearance (front facade on the Koningstabelstraat and rear facade with loggias on the side of the inner courtyards), as in the layout of the dwelling units. The GARAGES are placed at right angles against the short sides of both wings on the inner terrain along the Koningstabelstraat, two rows of four on the east side and two rows of ten on the west side. With the recessed wing of the large carré they form a u-shaped layout whereby a square-like space has been created within. The single-storey garages are erected in brickwork with a slightly recessed plane for the double wooden garage doors.

The INNER COURTYARDS are laid out with grass and (ornamental) trees. In the small carré a children's play area has been laid out with still a single original play apparatus.

Valuation

The BLOK HOOGBOUW with INNER COURTYARDS and GARAGES is of general interest by virtue of:

- cultural-historical value as an exemplary model of a Housing Act block of dwellings that was built under strong municipal guidance to alleviate the housing shortage and the fact that garages were incorporated almost immediately during construction in light of the growing importance of motor traffic and vehicle ownership;

- architectural-historical value as an exceptional example of a consciously sought monumentality of an Italianising style variant of the Bossche School; of importance in the oeuvre of the architects A. Evers and G.J.M. Sarlemijn;

- urban planning value by virtue of the remarkable carré-shaped layout;

- ensemble value by virtue of the functional spatial relationship of the components.