MVRDV has completed two residential towers in The Hague, which are 120 and 100 metres tall, located on Grotiusplaats, a stone’s throw from the city’s Central Station and alongside the Royal Library of the Netherlands.

The towers add affordable rental housing at the very centre of the city, with a public transport hub on the doorstep. Of the 655 apartments in the complex, 114 are intended for social rent, with a further 295 targeted at the mid-market rental sector.
The Grotius Towers, designed by MVRDV, with their "striking crowns" that “dematerialize” asymmetrically from the top down, combined with a series of setbacks and terraces creating an iconic jagged massing.

At the crown level, the design demarcates slightly from the rest of its facade, using the bamboo material to create a distinct, valley-like “village” that’s separated from the grey-white natural stone that covers the tower on the lower.

The project's total floor area is 61,800 square meters. Both towers are slightly narrower on the lower floors, providing requisite space for pedestrian traffic to travel between the station and the city centre.
 


Grotius Towers by MVRDV. Photograph by Daria Scagliola.


Grotius Towers by MVRDV. Photograph by Daria Scagliola.


Grotius Towers by MVRDV. Photograph by Daria Scagliola.

Project description by MVRDV

The Grotius Towers, which are 120 and 100 metres tall, are located on Grotiusplaats, a stone’s throw from the city’s Central Station and alongside the Royal Library of the Netherlands. With their striking crowns of stacked apartments, the towers add affordable rental housing at the very centre of the city, with a public transport hub on the doorstep. Of the 655 apartments in the complex, 114 are intended for social rent, with a further 295 targeted at the mid-market rental sector.

At their tops, the Grotius Towers extend upwards into a landscape of setbacks and terraces. These crowns are visible from afar, making an eye-catching new addition to the skyline of The Hague. In an area where every square metre has to be used intelligently, MVRDV designed two apartment buildings with a total floor area of 61,800 square metres. By cleverly shaping the footprints of the towers, the design team was able to preserve through-streets, create new squares, and develop a duo of buildings that appear to subtly change shape when viewed from new perspectives.

The design gives particular attention to the top of the towers: by allowing them to ‘crumble’ asymmetrically at the uppermost levels, the characteristic landscape of stacked terraces is created, with more terraces on the south side than on the north side. A change in colour and material gives the crowns an extra accent, with a sustainable bamboo composite on the terraces and the façades. At the base of the towers, a colour gradient – from beige above to anthracite grey on the bottom floors – also ensures a soft landing on the ground level.

While the apartments in the Grotius Towers vary in rent and size, even the smallest corner apartment offers beautiful views, with large windows realised in each apartment. Each resident is given an outdoor space; at the upper levels, residents can step out onto the terraces of the crown, while on the rest of the tower are balconies that partly protrude, and partly set back into the apartment as a loggia.


Grotius Towers by MVRDV. Photograph by Daria Scagliola.

“With this design, we have created a new space within this already busy area,” says MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “Although the towers appear narrow, they contain a large floor area and a mix of homes. The ‘village’ at the top literally crowns the design. In addition to the view, this stack of terraces also allows easy encounters between residents. The design makes your neighbours more approachable; tenants will soon feel as if they live on the ground floor, casually inviting each other for a glass of wine or dinner.”

With façades of natural stone and sustainable composite bamboo, gas-free homes, and approximately 1,500 bicycle parking spaces (in addition to 244 for cars), the Grotius Towers are also sustainable. In the design, attention was paid to energy efficiency in the form of good insulation and heat recovery systems. The towers are also multifunctional: as well as rental housing, there are a variety of facilities on the ground floor, from restaurants and cafes to services. An app has been developed especially for residents with which they can get in touch with each other for sports or dining appointments, which will promote social cohesion.

The two towers are not the end of the story for this neighbourhood: they form the starting point for the makeover of the area east of The Hague’s Central Station. This will involve partially covering the Utrechtsebaan highway and extending the pedestrian route in the direction of the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood. The Grotius Towers give the public space here a new dimension, serving as the start of further densification and greening in this part of The Hague.

More information

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Architects
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MVRDV. Founding partner in charge.- Winy Maas. Partner.- Jeroen Zuidgeest. Director.- Gideon Maasland.
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Design team
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Sanne van Manen, Teodora Cirjan, Urszula Kuczma, Guido Boeters, Francis Liesting, Rik Lambers, Roxana Aron, Mikel Vazquez, Pietro Bergamini, Laurens Veth, Katarzyna Fuszara.
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Collaborators
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Structural Engineer.- IMD Raadgevende Ingenieurs, Rotterdam.
MEP.- Ingenieursburo Linssen, Amsterdam.
Cost Calculation.- BBN, Houten.
Building Physics.- Peutz, Mook.
Building Engineering.- Inbo, Amsterdam.
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Client
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Main Contractor
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JP van Eesteren & Besix.
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Area
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61,800 m².
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Dates
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2022.
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Location
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Grotiusplaats, The Hague, Netherlands.
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Photography
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MVRDV was founded in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The practice engages globally in providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues. A highly collaborative, research-based design method involves clients, stakeholders and experts from a wide range of fields from early on in the creative process. The results are exemplary, outspoken projects, which enable our cities and landscapes to develop towards a better future.

The products of MVRDV’s unique approach to design vary, ranging from buildings of all types and sizes, to urban plans and visions, numerous publications, installations and exhibitions. Built projects include the Netherlands Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hannover; the Market Hall, a combination of housing and retail in Rotterdam; the Pushed Slab, a sustainable office building in Paris’ first eco-district; Flight Forum, an innovative business park in Eindhoven; the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam; the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan; the Unterföhring office campus near Munich; the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam; the Ypenburg housing and urban plan in The Hague; the Didden Village rooftop housing extension in Rotterdam; the music centre De Effenaar in Eindhoven; the Gyre boutique shopping center in Tokyo; a public library in Spijkenisse; an international bank headquarters in Oslo, Norway; and the iconic Mirador and Celosia housing in Madrid.

Current projects include a variety of housing projects in the Netherlands, France, China, India, and other countries; a community centre in Copenhagen and a cultural complex in Roskilde, Denmark, a public art depot in Rotterdam, the transformation of a mixed use building in central Paris, an office complex in Shanghai, and a commercial centre in Beijing, and the renovation of an office building in Hong Kong. MVRDV is also working on large scale urban masterplans in Bordeaux and Caen, France and the masterplan for an eco-city in Logroño, Spain. Larger scale visions for the future of greater Paris, greater Oslo, and the doubling in size of the Dutch new town Almere are also in development.

MVRDV first published a manifesto of its work and ideas in FARMAX (1998), followed by MetaCity/Datatown (1999), Costa Iberica (2000), Regionmaker (2002), 5 Minutes City (2003), KM3 (2005), Spacefighter (2007) and Skycar City (2007), and more recently The Vertical Village (with The Why Factory, 2012) and the firm’s first monograph of built works MVRDV Buildings (2013). MVRDV deals with issues ranging from global sustainability in large scale studies such as Pig City, to small, pragmatic architectural solutions for devastated areas such as New Orleans.

The work of MVRDV is exhibited and published worldwide and has received numerous international awards. One hundred architects, designers and urbanists develop projects in a multi-disciplinary, collaborative design process which involves rigorous technical and creative investigation. MVRDV works with BIM and has official in-house BREEAM and LEED assessors.

Together with Delft University of Technology, MVRDV runs The Why Factory, an independent think tank and research institute providing an agenda for architecture and urbanism by envisioning the city of the future.

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Published on: July 22, 2022
Cite: "Two new crowns for The Hague. Grotius Towers by MVRDV" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/two-new-crowns-hague-grotius-towers-mvrdv> ISSN 1139-6415
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