TEGELHUIZEN

This project was produced in response to the Almere wethouder Adri Duivesteijn’s call for innovative prototypes for affordable housing for young citizens. Our team proposed a collection of housing schemes for various budgets, aiming at variety and individual character for low cost.

The project is based on the classical prototype of a pitched roof Dutch house, but gives it an edge through unorthodox use of traditional materials – the old Dutch ceramic tiles. In the past, the beautiful colourful tiles were used for decorative purposes to adorn the details of façades and interior elements. In this project SVESMI used this material in a bolder manner, making it a stylistic and formative element for the whole architectural body of the house, the street or even, if this feels appropriate, of the city block.

We worked with the collection of tiles from all over the world, creating combinations that could turn the mundane urban reality into a festival of colours and individuality without actually severing the ties of a modern neighbourhood with its old traditions.

Tegelehuizen is a budget project that can be adjusted to almost any (sub) urban situation. It can help to release the creativity of inhabitants, allowing them to create their own colour combinations and express themselves artistically.
With no effort such highly customized neighbourhood can become a casual local attraction.