Strijp R, the site of the old Philips CRT television factory, is being transformed in stages into a green urban living environment. Within the ring structure of the urban spatial master plan are several freely subdivisible development tracts, criss-crossed by an amorphous green belt that meanders between the various housing clusters. For tract 6, HCVA has designed a compact residential neighbourhood containing some sixty ground-accessed dwellings in linked volumes alternately housing two or three families. These multi-family volumes are situated in a square grid of development lots and parking areas and separated from one another by thick hedges. An informal rotation of the volumes delivers a varied streetscape that is enhanced by terraced roofs and distinctive chimneys.
The architecture employs a cubist idiom in a staggered volumetric profile of closed and open planes. Yellow marled handmade bricks (210x100x40) with inch-wide joints lend the housing scheme a soft patina against the green backdrop. String courses of glazed bricks express the stacking of floors and roof terraces and give the housing scheme a collective horizon.