Van Cooth

At one of the most prominent spots of the city center of Breda, a large building block from the eighties can use a twenty-one century upgrade. An upgrade that offers more potential than just a new façade or stair house. AAArchitects has made a proposal to add two layers to the building volume and a new living environment is created in the centre of Breda that is both exciting and a challenge. A new environment with new people that will change the social monotonous climate of the building and not only its architecture. The buildings context is changed during the last years without any adaption for the building itself. The Van Coothplein has become a one-way street and the amount of traffic is diminished. The nearby theater is disappeared and has been exchanged for an apartment building, which caused in a differ-ent environmental characteristic. The growth of the importance of the Nieuwe Ginnekenstraat as a shopping area has resulted in a more central position and all around large apartment buildings have been built that provoke an architectonical reaction of the old building stock. Change is therefore inevitable due to the change in the urban fabric.