WITT Woerden

The two tall building sections of seven and ten stories form the cornerstones of the plan and are connected by a two-story masonry sound wall. In this way, the noise from the railroad is shielded from the low-rise buildings and a noiseless, continuous roof garden is created that is publicly accessible. The corners land firmly on the ground and have their entrances at the corners of the plan area.

The three building sections are each composed of two parts: a substructure in robust masonry with deep negges and a setback, multi-story superstructure in smooth, glossy green ceramic. The setback is always placed on a different side, revealing a changing silhouette. All outdoor spaces are resolved within the volume, creating a beautiful abstract image of stacked volumes of different heights. The outdoor spaces are soundproofed and limit heat stress for the residents.

A wide variety of apartments has been realized in the apartment buildings: from small dwellings around 50m2 in a 6-span to large 2-spans in the tall buildings. In the architecture, extra attention was paid to the main entrance with lettering on the canopies, refinement in detailing with recessed surfaces, special masonry connections and the large facade openings for light and views.

Single-family homes around collective gardens

There are 38 single-family homes built around a large collective garden. The houses are designed as small urbanistic granules of three to four houses. The blocks differ in masonry color, height and are often slightly offset from each other to make a small scale readable. Much attention has been paid to the design of the corners by introducing special housing types with extra work or practice spaces.

The low-rise buildings can be divided into two types: the deck houses along the bicycle path and the regular ground-level houses along the Johan de Wittlaan and the intermediate streets of the neighborhood. The three- and four-story deck houses face the apartment buildings. They are slightly elevated and have a masonry margin strip as a transition to the public green space with bicycle path. On the first floor there is room for a residential space on the facade and indoor storage and parking spaces. The parking facility is a continuous, overbuilt parking street with large deck gardens above, with ground coverage for intensive greenery. On the second floor, the main living space is on the deck garden, often connected by a loft to the first floor. The four-story houses have a setback with an additional outdoor space on the second floor on the southeast side.

The remaining ground-level dwellings with a garden in the open ground vary in nave widths of 5.1, 5.4 and 6 meters. In the four-story houses, the first floor and first floor are connected by a void. Special attention has been paid to the corner houses by adding volume and extra space. A prominent corner house on Johan de Wittlaan has thus been given a two-story 'back house' with an extra roof terrace overlooking the deer park.

Sustainability and mobility
The premise is "green, urban living": an urban living environment with attractive green outdoor space where residents can meet and children can safely play outdoors. The sustainable homes are built gas-free and nature-inclusive and equipped with solar panels. Water buffers have been constructed to collect rain. Electric shared cars are included in the plan to reduce parking pressure and CO2 emissions. Because of the shared cars and the central location of the plan near the central station, there is a lower parking standard than usual. New construction project Witt therefore contributes to future-proof and more sustainable Woerden: traveling by train and sharing a car instead of owning one. At the edge of the plan along the railroad tracks, space has been created for visitor parking. From here, people can walk into the plan area or enter the heart of the apartment complex via a bridge over the water.