Last Wednesday, 6 July, the construction of the first two residential towers of De CAAI has officially started. Flow and Fresh, as the two towers are now called, are located on the former Campina factory site and are surrounded by monuments. Mei designed Flow – with 160 homes the tallest building of this development.
The CAAI, a development by BPD | Bouwfonds Gebiedsontwikkeling, will be a sustainable, green, modern city district with affordable rental and owner-occupied flats. What once was the most modern milk factory in the Netherlands, will soon be Eindhoven’s most modern city district. In total, the plan has about 700 homes and 18,000 m2 of other facilities. With the drilling of the first pile by Alderman Mieke Verhees, the start signal was given for the construction of the first two (of the five) residential towers.
Flow will be fully integrated with the characteristic historical factory buildings that the Campina site holds. By doing so, the historical significance of the site is preserved. In terms of colours and materials, Flow’s design makes a direct reference to Campina: the milk-white travertine reffering to the dairy industry that once was, and the rounded shapes after the rounded roofs of the factory. The repetition in the façade is a recognisable element. Moreover, all the flats have their own outside space, in the form of a balcony or loggia. Flow is a building full of character with a high-quality appearance that will soon set the tone for De CAAI.
