Solar House

1993, Haarlem Netherlands

Europan 3  Housing
Haarlem Netherlands
Competition Design First Prize

Higgs Young Architects designed  passive solar conservatory houses for the prize winning Europan 3 housing competition. The site had the perfect orientation for a solar house design with a compact area for winter use and a south facing conservatory and terrace adding space to be used seasonally with the benefit of solar gains.

The jurors selected the scheme by Higgs Young Architects because it created good connections to the neighbourhood, a clear central green space and integrated carefully with the adjoining buildings. The active and passive solar heating was at that time an innovation in the Europan competition.

Rosenprieel in Haarlem was different from many sites in Europan 3 Netherlands because the strong context of both street row houses and canal houses which gave he opportunity  to design new houses alongside the  Dutch typology. The site layout created a garden or courtyard at the heart of the project which was  inspired by traditional Haarlem hofjes, early 20th century Amsterdam housing and the Haarlem housing Tuinwijk by Van Loghem.