The building consists of 3 programs mentioned above and each program works as a bridge. The goal of the marketplace is to be a cultural bridge by providing interaction between people including locals and immigrants. To achieve this, a routing system of Katendrecht street was introduced that connects the inside and outside of the building, draws people with diverse background deep into the building, links them to the history of the building and expands their understanding of the multi-cultural world. To make the Fenix ensemble legible as a historic entity again and include street connecting Wilhelmina pier into routing system. Despite the recent changes to the Fenix 1 building, the market place will be extended to lower part of Fenix 1 and become huge cultural area with Deliplein. In addition, the lost part on quay-side will be restored to restore weakened connection between water. Above the marketplace, there is an education center for immigrants and both spaces are interconnected. By doing so, locals and immigrants can communicate in many ways and this space will be social bridge. The migration museum links above two programs as a historic symbol of the building. It also links past and present, users to history and shows the root of the building.

A process of research and design has taken place to understand the problems we face in the present and future to transfer that into a design proposal. The first problem as starting point for the design is the extreme rain periods that causes floods due to climate change. The second problem as starting point for the design is a social problem where starters can't afford a house due to the expensive housing market. This occurs especially in popular cities such as Amsterdam. Eventually, a design proposal in Minervahaven (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) is made that is liveable in a way how it deals with the extreme rain periods by having different strategies integrated in the design such as using, absorbing and storing rainwater. At the same time, the design proposal will create an affordable place for starters by having focused on creating a balance between 315 qualitative compact dwellings and collective areas in the building. This is realised in the form of collective kitchens, working areas, laundry rooms and shared electric cars. Also, repetition was key in the design to reduce the building costs that helps increasing the affordability of the dwellings for starters. The challenge was to have a good collaboration between architecture and building technology to give something back to the community not only in the present but also for the future.

Harvest. A Burn-out retreat.
 Revitalising 'Plots in the Woods' at Hembrug. 
A former munition terrain. A hidden green enclave in Zaandam where de Zaan, het IJ and het Noordzeekanaal cross. Surrounded by water and boats, industry and a big forest. The vision of the project is to revitalise the ‘plots in the woods’ into a burn-out retreat with a focus on the wellbeing of the visitors and sustainability while maintaining the characteristic values. Just like in the past, every building will have its specific function. And all together they will form the process of the treatment of burn-outs. The three key elements are: preserve the typologies, respect the original materials as much as possible and upgrade the buildings to present-day conditions. In addition: the wellbeing of users, sustainability and reuse will be taken into account. 
The plots in the woods at the Hembrug terrain was a place of violence, but quietly and by its own resources the ensemble recovered. Now it is a space created for people with a burn-out, where they can do the same. The users serve the existing landscape and buildings: the program emerges and is rooted at this location and time in society. There is now a place surrounded by nature, close to Amsterdam to take the time to unwind, wander, connect, disconnect and slowly recover.

A small community where elderly and young professionals live, study and work together

The main inspiration for my design originates from the great variety of spaces, atmospheres and time layers on site. Preserving this unique quality for the public and making it experience-able as well as using it as a source of revenue are my main focuses. I pose the question:”How can the historic layers of the site be preserved and made experience-able?” To answer this question I introduced the 3 following approaches:

Offer additional programme
Preserve the original building fabric
Establish new connections

Each approach is reflected in a concrete intervention on site.
The site is mainly transformed into a boutique hotel. To attract more visitors and therefore create more revenue as well as to make the site sustainable, I introduce a restaurant and market hall in combination with a greenhouse. Located in the former functional post war stables it also functions as a new public entrance to the site. A big part of the atmosphere on site is characterized by the war damages in the main house. The core idea is to maintain the original atmosphere of the rooms with only a few “images” of the historic rooms while providing modern living standards. All serious damages to the brickwork are maintained and similar to a showcase, in a museum exhibited through a window pane. This is contrasted by the new plaster wall finish around the frames which is painted in a way that it matches the original colour scheme of the room.
Introducing a walkway which connects all buildings on site serves two functions. Firstly it makes the navigation for visitors much easier and leads them from one function to the other. More importantly, however, it serves as a tool to tell the history of Reuversweerd. Leading from one time cluster to the other it shows the visitor the different time layers and atmospheres. By making a connection that was never there before It also creates an entirely new context for the buildings which enables a focus shift towards their history and spatial qualities rather than their beauty.