17 February 2026 – Last week, Bo-Ex and Habion signed the turnkey contract with Staton Bouw for the construction of 161 social housing units in Utrecht Terwijde.

In collaboration with Socialex Real Estate, we designed two residential blocks for two different housing associations. The southern block is specially designed for care homes. Because social interaction is central here, we proposed the type of the ‘residential palazzo‘: a building surrounding a green courtyard. Here, residents can meet each other at the bicycle shed, the lift or in the communal meeting room. This design is repeated in the northern block with homes for mixed occupancies.

The two triangular buildings divide the site in two. Between the blocks is a car-free courtyard that connects the inner courtyards. This courtyard borders the poplar trees of Rijnkennemerlaan on the north side and a green square on the south side. The design is ingenious and cost-effective. The galleries have been kept as short as possible. By repeating dwellings and placing lifts and stairs as prefabricated components in the atrium, the plan remained affordable.

It is a sophisticated solution that we recognise from the historic palazzi in Southern Europe. Together with students, I have been studying the residential palazzo type for some time. I see it as a pragmatic form of housing, in which collectivity has a natural place. A city like Naples is full of speculatively built palazzi that have been functioning very well for 300 years. It is exciting to now test this type in Dutch practice.

Construction will start in the third quarter and take approximately two years.