The former Philips Company School of building phase 5
dominates the skyline of this section of Philipsdorp. The houses by De Bazel
are designed in a variety of types that all look rather similar with hipped
roofs in orange clay tiles on buildings clad in brown brick. The long row of
terraces is given more interest by staggering the building line along the
Kastanjelaan (Chestnut Avenue).
A small square - known as Kastanjeplein (Chestnut
Square) although this officially isn't an address - forms the link between the
former factory site of the Philips Company and the factory housing of
Philipsdorp. The main side entrance to the factory site was located opposite
this square. From the square the streets fan out so al parts of the
neighbourhood and beyond can easily be reached. The factory village was
designed for pedestrians and cyclists with roads wide enough for horse-drawn
delivery carts.
Another view along the edge of phase 4 designed by De
Bazel. The street has since been rebuilt with a central reservation laid to
grass and planted with Horse chestnuts. The planting scheme in building phases 3 and 4 was devised by
Tersteeg, a well known landscape architect, who planted a variety of the tree
every street was named for. There are plans to re-instate this, as since the
1970s the original planting scheme was abandoned with Column oaks in the
Acaciastraat (=Black Locust Street) as an example.
A view down the two streets running off the so-called
"Chestnut Square". On the left the Platanenstraat (Plane Street) and
on the right Acaciastraat. Both streets feature Columnar oak (Quercus
'Fastigiata Koster'). A single remaining Black Locust tree (Robinia
pseudoacacia) is still standing on the corner of the street and the square.
Phase 4 of Philipsdorp is also known as the
Platanenbuurt (Plane Tree Neighbourhood). The central Platanenplein forms the
focus of the layout and creates a strong sense of direction around a single
spatial focus on this irregular plot. The flecked bark is a give-away: the
square is aptly planted with London Planes (Platanus x hispanica).
A view down the Vlierstraat (Elder Street) towards the
mixed buildings that are part of the centre of Strijp. The edges of the factory
village are gradual here, so the actual village and Philipsdorp merge without
the latter losing its identity.
A view down the Frederiklaan where a terrace of
Philipsdorp with the protruding corners sits comfortably next to the M.T.S. and
the former Philips Company School. Both are now part of a vocational college.
The schools were part of building phase 5 and were built on land previously
used for temporary housing in wooden barracks. With the completion of
Drentsdorp and Gelderdorp further north in Strijp this housing was no longer
needed from 1930.
The M.T.S. (Middelbare Technische School = Technical
Middle School) was built in 1940, The decorative entrance still shows the
acronym of MTS and is flanked by two figures that represent Industry and Study.
The huge school behind the MTS was
started in the 1930, bombed out and then rebuilt even larger as a seven storey
building in two wings -one curved one straight- that emphasises the corner of
Philipsdorp towards the Strijp-S factory site.
The high building of the former Philips Company School
can also be seen from phase 4 of Philipsdorp, south of the Frederiklaan. Here a
view down the central Iepenlaan (Elm Lane). This is a picture taken last year
shortly after the restoration of these terraces. This winter the Mountain ash
trees were taken out and replaced by Elm treets. The housing De Bazel designed
for building phase 3 and 4 are identical. In phase 4 he used more smaller
blocks of 3 and some semidetached houses.
A break from the usual architecture by the Bazel are
these houses built in phase 5. The broken gable ends create a vernacular
impression. This is reinforced by the low roof with high dormers. These houses
were built on land provided by the Philips Company, but were developed by
another housing association, not the company's own housing association
"Thuis Best". Where these terraces connect to the earlier work by De
Bazel these brick-built arches (seen right) are featured.
Anotherone of the restored blocks designed by De Bazel
in phase 3. Here a block on the corner of the Henriettestraat with the
Keerweerstraat. Please note the restored green front door, the reinstatement of
the original colour scheme with butter cream coloured frames. The windows have
also been replaces with double-glazed units with glazing bars instead of the
old large panes of glass.
The housing in the Lijsterbestraat (Rowan Street) has
yet to be restored. The housing is very similar to the other housing in
building phase 3 (and as such 4).The exception is the colour of the roof tiles
that are dark gray here instead of the dull orange of the other terraces
designed by De Bazel. The street has a gentle curve and the corners of each
terrace protrude to create more interest
through a variable building line.
Almost identical houses were erected on the edge of
this section of Philipsdorp; again with darker roof tiles that are brownish red
instead of dark grey. The entrance street to the Strijp-S complex once ran
along these houses. It was rebuilt further out. The street used to be known as
Mathildelaan and was re-named PSV-laan recently to honour the famous football
club.
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