MVRDV has revealed its design for the Strijp-S Tribune, a mixed-use building next to the Ketelhuisplein in Eindhoven’s rapidly regenerating Strijp-S neighbourhood. Designed for housing association Trudo, the building adds 56 apartments, with a mixture of social housing and mid-sector rental units. These sit above a two-storey commercial base, with the design arranged in a stepped, tribune-like shape that turns the building into a grandstand overlooking one of the city’s most energetic public squares.

The Strijp-S area was originally built as part of the factories of the Philips electronics company, which was instrumental to Eindhoven’s growth in the 20th century. Since Philips’ departure from Eindhoven in the 1990s, the area has evolved into a cultural heart of Eindhoven, serving among other things as one of the main venues of the annual Dutch Design Week. A mixture of creative companies and residents now co-exist in the transformed factories and newly-constructed high-rises around the Ketelhuisplein.

The large terraces created by the building’s steps are generously planted with greenery, with a number of trees, long planters serving as balustrades, and sedum ground coverings, all served by an automatic irrigation system. The terraces thus continue the greening of Strijp-S that has been most noticeable in the Trudo Tower, roof gardens on Anton and Gerard, and the garden on the Leidingstraat, adding to the environmental benefits such as water retention and biodiversity that greening offers.

The terraces offer both private outdoor space for the adjacent apartments, as well as communal outdoor spaces that can be used by residents living deeper within the building. They are connected together by staircases, and each is accessible from the end of the central corridor on each floor, allowing residents to easily traverse between communal terraces on different levels. The effect is a series of spaces that are perfect for gathering, socialising, and watching over the activities on the plaza below. From the bottom terrace, a pier projects onto the Leidingstraat, with a staircase extending down to street level, creating a publicly accessible lookout point on the corner of the Ketelhuisplein and turning this series of staircases into a secondary fire escape.