During the festive ceremony at the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam, the winners of the seven ARC18 Awards were announced. Mei architects and planners and WhiteHouseDevelopment have won the ARC18 Development Award with the Gouda Cheese Warehouse.
The jury, led by Jeroen van Schooten, greatly appreciates the successful transformation of the national monument into a loft apartment building. She praises the way in which architect and developer, in close cooperation, have revived the building.
From the jury report:
“The Cheese Warehouse in Gouda is a project that has everything the jury was looking for. It is a project that most parties considered development to be too risky. A project that has a great complexity and is realized in a difficult market. It is a project that has become a decisive success in commercial terms and that circularity is of paramount importance. A project where users could assert their individual wishes.”
The ARC18 Development Award is the award for the best-developed architecture project of 2017/2018. The award aims to promote the dialogue between the project developer and the architect in order to aim for a high-quality built environment. The jury has looked for projects that have achieved good commercial value through clever architectural thinking and with that a good development.
The jury selected three nominations from 28 submissions. In addition to the Cheese Warehouse, the jury nominated Superlofts Blok Y in Utrecht by Marc Koehler Architects, and Atrium Zuidas in Amsterdam by MVSA Architects.
Gouda Cheese Warehouse – Loft apartments in a national monument
Cheese Warehouse ‘De Producent’ in Gouda, the international famous Dutch Cheese Capital, experienced a spectacular transformation to residential lofts. Mei architects and planners together with White House Development initiated this successful development. In the heart of the building a spacious atrium is created, enclosed by 52 unique and sophisticated loft homes. Because of the innovative re-use of elements from the old cheese warehouse, like the original cheese boards, you can still experience the 100-year-old history of making cheese.
photo: Ⓒ KSK Photography | Kyra Sophia Kataigides, by courtesy of DeArchitect.nl