Transformation Schalkwijk Center | Haarlem
Design-realisation: 2003-2030
Design: Master plan and Supervision
Location: Schalkwijk | Haarlem (NL)
Client: City of Haarlem
Team JCAU: Jo Coenen | Thomas Offermans | Javier Pinazo | Xenofon Moraitis | Maiara Camilotti | Luciënne | Willem Lucassen | Ard de Vries | Annebregje Snijders | Danny Bovens
Stakeholders: Owners Association Winkelcentrum Schalkwijk
Advisors: Droogh Trommelen en Partners (DTnP), Goudappel Coffeng
Landscape architects: Lubbers landschape architects
Developers: AM ontwikkeling, Lunee vastgoed/Trebbe ontwikkeling, Dalpha real estate, HBB groep, Hoorne vastgoed, Marketplace Development B.V, Going Dutch Development B.V
Collaborating architects: LEVS architects, Groosman architects, Koschuch architects, INBO architects, PPHP/Soeters, OPZOOM architects, Snelder architects, Hulsker architects, Jaap Dijkman architecture office
Open and Adaptive City Making
Schalkwijk shopping center was built as a typical post 2nd World War “wederopbouw” complex outside the main core of the city of Haarlem. At the time of its construction the car was the primary means of transport and shopping centers acted as gravity points for entire regions. Currently, the shopping mall is the center of the four neighborhoods of Schalkwijk, with approximately 35.000 inhabitants.
The transformation of Haarlem Schalkwijk began in the early 2000’s by JCAU. It all started with the idea of retaining the actual shopping center and finding smart solutions to combine the parking spots with a significant number of dwellings. We proposed placing a grid in the area, based on the Barcelona grid, but adapted size-wise to the structural grid of the shopping center. The whole center is characterized by blind exterior facades, thus, we strived to change this contracted attitude into an openness towards the surrounding context. To achieve this, we employed lively facades with maximum permeability, and some of the values of the typical historical Dutch city, with its combination of avenues, narrow alleys, squares and quays. Moreover, an ‘image quality’ that combines the richness of the traditional masonry with the tough, orthogonal, rational architecture of the “wederopbouw’ architecture of Schalkwijk.
The bank crisis of the years 2008-2012, however, made this approach not feasible. Not only dwellings were not anymore needed, but no investments at all were made in real estate, in general. The only refurbishments that were wanted were punctual and small, surely not a part of a coherent vision for the future. On top of that, the approximately 80 different shop owners were reluctant to facilitate change, -and if so, their plannings and ambitions were, naturally, not aligned.
So, the question arose: How to make a sustainable urban design under these circumstances? We had to change our strategy!
The answer was found in a more open approach, both in the rigidity of the streets’ position, and the heights of the buildings, but also in the moment when developments should be done, as well as in the way of becoming actual projects. We learned the only way to achieve good plans is to allow participation of the shop owners, the developers, and the different departments of the municipalities. “New for old”, in other words, the demolition of the shopping center in many small phases, became possible because the individual and corporate owners started to trust us.
The updated master plan includes fixed aspects that take care of the coherence and harmony of the new neighborhood in terms of views, scale, rhythm and materials. Other aspects are indicated as infill of the specific developers, always in collaboration with JCAU. This infill strategy also leads to an easy way of incorporating a large diversity of new functions, such as a library, sport facilities, housing, a cinema, shops, cultural centers and a new market.
Based on the architectural values instilled in the project of Schalkwijk that were mentioned earlier, the objective to form a recognizable second center for the city of Haarlem is evident. Next to that, the creation of many new dwellings in the social and mid expensive sector, and of course the search for a genius loci in the rhythms and views of the current high buildings in Schalkwijk, justified the incorporation of new high rises in the proposal. The result is a high-density neighborhood, in which the relation of the program, the architecture of the plinth and the public space around it became even more crucial. Finally, by creating 4,5 meters high ground floors, we make a first step towards lively, safe, and social public spaces.
Overall, Schalkwijk’s masterplan can adapt to social needs in the development phase, in the design phase and even in the construction phase. Each block or group of blocks has its own Urban Programs of Requirements which ensures a specification of the more general zoning plan. Even in these UPofR’s we work with a combination of ‘policy’, demands and wishes, in such a way that a certain amount of freedom is given till the actual completion of the buildings.
Namely, these policies include a set of maps with guidelines on heights, the position of balconies and/or loggias, the position of car entrances, bikes and residents, the type of plinth, the type of windows and materials. All these are specified and confirmed by the political Counsel of Haarlem. JCAU, as head of the beauty commission (Welstand), can judge developer’s questions until the very last moment. In this process, quality, feasibility and planning go hand in hand, controlling the coherence and structures, and leaving space to the infill of context and society.
