Hasta La Ideas

Dutch studio Martens Willems & Humblé Architecten has adorned the Miller Apartment Building in Maastricht with red brickwork to reference the city’s Amsterdam School style of architecture.

The block of 38 apartments stands alongside a new boulevard in the neighbourhood of Wyckerpoort, which reconnects an area of the city formerly isolated between a motorway and a railway.

The Miller Apartment Building abuts two lower blocks of social housing that were previously completed by Martens Willems & Humblé Architecten, with the three forms enclosing a courtyard-like parking area at their centre.

“The core concept is that the building is a pivotal point between different spatial conditions,” partner Maikel Willems told Dezeen.

“It had to connect to the neighbourhood as a continuous ensemble, but it also had to form a strong impetus for the new boulevard,” he added.

The block is bookended by the cylindrical form of two staircases, and to the east meets the scale of the lower housing blocks with a smaller, projecting volume.

At the side facing the motorway, Martens Willems & Humblé Architecten were required to balance noise reduction with a desire for dual-aspect spaces.

This lead to the creation of two layers of large windows that provide views through the circulation corridor, or “gallery”.

To the south, each apartment features a balcony that overlooks the site’s quieter side to offer views over the city, while those on the ground floor benefit from a small private garden.

“The gallery had to be placed on the street side because of high noise levels,” explained Willems.

“In order not to have a blind facade but a living facade, the layout of the apartments is organised in such a way that there is direct visual contact with both the front and the back.”

“The extra-wide living gallery with benches is also used as an extension of the house and creates communal space,” he added.

Mirroring the adjacent housing units, the Miller Apartment Block is finished in red brick, referencing the early 20th-century style of brick architecture known as the Amsterdam School, which often made expressive use of brickwork.

The upper storeys of the building are finished with a crown of brickwork with vertical ribs, framed by lines of glazed red brick in a nod to the nearby Mosa tile factory.

Inside, the access corridor and circulation areas have been finished in shades of green, pale pink and orange, while the apartments themselves have been kept minimal for residents to customise and adapt.

Other housing projects recently featured on Dezeen include a social housing block in Mallorca by Peris+Toral Arquitectes, which was built using walls of pale sandstone and limestone in reference to the area’s traditional architecture.

The photography is by Arjen Schmitz.

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