The 'Grain of Weesp', the scale and pace of the center of Weesp, is the inspiration for this plan with five city blocks along a spine of canals and squares. The design creates a bridge between the old town of Weesp and the surrounding polder. The public space which is created is an attractive route from the center to the polder along water and green. Scattered across the district are working-in-homes and office spaces. This makes the area lively and full of daytime activity.
The density of the houses is high. Building on this historical context, LEVS designed residences with 80 different types, from apartments to working-in-homes, from canal houses with large open spaces to two-under-one-roof houses and impressive split-level homes. The variation continues in the varied and masonry materials. At the same time, the homes form one unit in e.g. wall openings and rhythm. This combination of variety and unity is a contemporary interpretation, based on a thorough analysis of the old Dutch town. The design spends much attention to the detail: the windows lie deep in de walls and the modern design of balcony railings plays in a special way with light. Prominent corner buildings and gateways accentuate the corners and visualize the axes of the district.
Unique to the project is the application of individual heat and cold storage in a substantial scale. Each house uses the heat and cold from the ground with its own heat pump system, which makes the houses in winter and summer reach an ideal temperatures. These and other energy-saving interventions in conjunction with the design and architecture, making Field of Lions a sustainable neighborhood.
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