belvedere tower in hilversum by rené van zuuk widens upwards

located in the town of hilversum, the netherlands, the ‘belvedere tower’ sits in an area of nondescript, four-story, post-war housing. in the 80s, six additional, modernist towers were constructed to the south of this area. the sculptural tower designed by dutch studio rené van zuuk architekten marks the culmination of this series and is placed at a prominent bend in the oosterengweg bypass, a major thoroughfare through the small town.

due to the tower’s prominent position, the municipality desired a building that would be sculptural in form and architecturally iconic. the exposed location also meant the proposed building would be visible from all sides and it, therefore, became important to design a project with a clear and logical symmetry. the triangular site is limited by a number of key constraints, including requirements in relation to the minimum distance from the property boundary, as well as a complex network of utility pipes running beneath the site. the building’s footprint was limited to no larger than 450 square meters (15% of the plot).

rené van zuuk architekten’s resulting design approach proposed a building where the floor area increased as the building rose vertically, with upper floors cantilevering from the central core thus maximizing usable space on the constrained site. structurally, the cantilever is achieved by balancing the building’s mass equally on both sides of the central core, from this symmetrical structure derives the building’s floor plan, a cross. the cross-shaped layout makes each floor plan incredibly flexible resulting in a building comprised of 55 units where no two apartments are identical.

project info:

name: belvedere tower

architects: rené van zuuk architekten

location: hilversum, the netherlands