former convicts find a new home in the supercube redesigned by personal architecture

‘supercube renovation’ by personal architecture, rotterdam, the netherlands
image © ossip van duivenbode
all images courtesy of personal architecture

dutch practice personal architecture, under the guidance of the exodus foundation, has recently renovated the lesser known ‘supercube’ in the iconic ‘cubecomplex’ of piet bloms built in the mid 1970’s. sitting mostly unoccupied for over 30 years, the supercube has been renovated and re-destined as a home for 21 inmates serving the final stretch of their sentences. the original design contained three main problems in the architect’s eyes: the discontinuity between floors, the tedious vertical progression, and the dark inconvenient middle floor – factors which were anything but conducive in an environment aimed at reintegrating incarcerated delinquents back into society. a simple and decisive intervention drastically changed the feel and function of the classic structure: a vertical rectangular shaft breaking through the floor planes and opening a skylight in the roof. this core serves many functions simultaneously by bringing in sunlight into a more integrated series of levels whose visual connections foster interactions between its inhabitants. it is also the support structure for the stairs and contains services such as reception, pantry, laundry, bathrooms, storage and kitchen.

view of the peaked rooftops
image © ossip van duivenbode

street-side elevation
image © rené de wit

image © rené de wit

entry
image © ossip van duivenbode

reception
image © rené de wit

library
image © ossip van duivenbode

computer area
image © ossip van duivenbode

image © ossip van duivenbode

kitchen and dining structure
image © rené de wit

image © rené de wit

image © rené de wit

stairs to the loft space
image © rené de wit

netted stair well
image © rené de wit

image © rené de wit

image © rené de wit

(left) image © rené de wit
(right) ossip van duivenbode

image © rené de wit

private unit
image © rené de wit

image © rené de wit

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project info:

client: woonbron, rotterdam
user: stichting exodus, rotterdam
architural & interior design: personal architecture bna, rotterdam, the netherlands
architects: maarten polkamp and sander van schaik
team: leendert van grinsven, wiepkjen kingma, froukje van de klundert
construction design: imd raadgevende ingenieurs, rotterdam
installation consulting: de blaay-van den bogaard, rotterdam
contractor: hijbeko, capelle aan de ijssel
interior: nelison, berkel en roderijs
floor area: 1,200 m2
number of rooms: 21
address: overblaak 56, 3011 mh, rotterdam, the netherlands
photographs: rené de wit, breda