Antwerp neighbourhood Nieuw Zuid welcomes Pritzker Prize winner Sir David Chipperfield
British architect designs sustainable housing project with a fruit orchard
Antwerp's Nieuw Zuid neighbourhood is once again enlisting a big name from the world of architecture: Sir David Chipperfield designs ‘Boomgaard', a small-scale, sustainable residential project with a unique fruit orchard. As its Dutch name suggests, there will be an orchard with some 60 fruit trees, designed by renowned landscape architect Bas Smets.
Boomgaard in figures
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"We don't just want to put up a nice building, we want to create a pleasant piece of the city," said Sir David Chipperfield. "We are delighted that Triple Living contacted us to do our bit for Antwerp's Nieuw Zuid neighbourhood. Thanks to Paola Viganò's master plan, we can help stitch together a fresh and vibrant neighbourhood with pleasant public spaces. The orchard, which will be open to all, is an important aspect of this project."
With a real fruit orchard in the central courtyard garden, the future Boomgaard (Orchard) residents will have a unique slice of life and nature right on their doorstep. Where else can you find an orchard with 60 fruit trees in the middle of the city? In what other city can you pick fruit straight from the trees on a beautiful late summer’s day?
Focus on sustainability
"With Boomgaard, we want to contribute to the city's look and life positively," Chipperfield explains. "Sustainability and the environment are crucial to us as an architectural firm. We always start from a holistic vision of sustainable design."
In 2019, David Chipperfield Architects signed a sustainability charter with 16 other leading UK architectural firms, committing to creating a positive impact on the world through his designs. At Boomgaard, this explains the unique orchard and the choice to work with natural materials as much as possible. Using CLT - cross-laminated timber - in the structure, among others, minimises the building's CO2 emissions. All flats meet strict insulation and energy standards, and a BEO field controls heating under the building. The winter gardens, seen on both sides of the building, also have an ecological function: they not only increase the quality of life for residents but also act as a buffer against the wind, rain, cold and heat. Thus, the interior spaces are less likely to heat up or cool down. "We also deliberately designed the building rather shallow," says Chipperfield, "so that as much natural light as possible enters everywhere and maximum use can be made of ventilation."
By the way, do you know there is a good reason why the building has a perpendicular shape?
The simple shape of the building fits perfectly with Chipperfield's sustainable vision. By deliberately keeping the design and layout simple, the building can be easily adapted in the future. Should the building ever call for a different use, this can be made possible with reasonably limited interventions. Even if the decision was ever made to demolish and rebuild the building elsewhere, it could be easily dismantled thanks to its simple form. |
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Sir David Chipperfield's world-renowned architectural vision is also evident in the design: the distinctive vertical façade rhythm, the consistent use of straight lines and sustainable materials, and the natural accents that extend into the flats. Needless to say, although it is a small-scale project, Boomgaard is grand in scope.
Sales of Boomgaard will start this month. If everything goes smoothly, construction will start as early as the end of this year. The expected completion is scheduled for late 2025.
More info at https://boomgaard-antwerpen.be/
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Sir David Chipperfield: multi-award-winning architect
Sir David Chipperfield is one of the most lauded British architects in recent decades. He studied at the prestigious Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where he met Zaha Hadid, among others. After completing his studies, he went to work for renowned architects such as Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. In 1985, he founded his own architectural practice, which has since grown into one of the world's best-known firms with offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai and Santiago de Compostela.
More than a hundred designs for cultural, public, residential and commercial buildings and numerous urban planning projects have earned his firm many international awards, including the RIBA Stirling Prize (2007), the EU's Mies van der Rohe Award (2011), the Deutscher Architekturpreis (2011) and, earlier this year, the Pritzker Prize (2023) which is known as the Nobel Prize for architecture. In 2009, Sir David Chipperfield was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and, a year later, was knighted in his home country. In 2011, he was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal for Architecture, the UK's leading architecture award, and the Praemium Imperiale of the Japanese Art Association in 2013.
The best-known works of Sir David Chipperfield
Sir David Chipperfield's best-known works are perhaps the renovation of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, for which he received worldwide acclaim and the Neues Museum on Berlin's Museuminsel. His design for the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames also won awards. Anyone in the Swiss city of Zurich should definitely visit the local Kunsthaus, for which he designed a purist extension.
Bram Smets