"Clayburg", along with a dozen other similar buildings, was built at the turn of the 1960s - 1970s in the Beilmermeer area. The master plan for the area was by Siegfried Nassuth and the Kleiburg project by Frans Ottenhof. The layout and architecture reflected the recommendations of the International Congress of Contemporary Architecture (CIAM).
The 11-storey buildings, arranged in a hexagonal pattern, consisted of sections and were equipped with open galleries that replaced the inter-apartment corridors. Large green areas were created between the buildings, and to further increase the area of public spaces, roads were raised to overpasses, and pedestrians and cyclists moved freely under them. Also, a parking space in a multi-storey garage was provided for each apartment.
The original plan - to eliminate the housing shortage, especially acute in the post-war decades - was carried out, but then the area shared the fate of residential areas throughout Europe: it gradually turned into an unsafe haven for the poor and (often illegal) immigrants. The relatively rapid dilapidation of houses built from inexpensive materials also did not contribute to prosperity. Therefore, already in 1985 there were plans to demolish Beilmermer, and his defenders turned to Rem Koolhaas. He, quite in the spirit of his passion for "social" modernist architecture, developed a plan for the reconstruction of the area, however, remained on paper.
The catalyst for the renovation was a plane crash in 1992, when an El Al plane crashed into two houses, which then exploded and caught fire, causing significant damage to the buildings. Gradually, the apartment buildings in Beilmermer began to be demolished, replaced by more popular low-rise buildings, or completely rebuilt. At the same time, they used their division into sections, sometimes destroying only part of the building.
In 2000 came the turn of "Kleyburg" (1971). At that time, it was one of the last intact structures from the original Beilmermer development. Therefore, he was part of the so-called Beilmermer Museum (part of the area, which was defended by a public organization of the same name). Then Greg Lynn won the competition for the reconstruction project with a spectacular, but unrealizable proposal: he wanted to install stainless steel "corridors" on the facades. Ten years later, the building was approached again: the owners were going to demolish it in whole or in part, arranging housing for students in the remaining sections, etc.
But the unfavorable economic situation and the efforts of the Beilmermer Museum made it possible to postpone the demolition, and then “Kleiburg” - a 400-meter-long 500-apartment building - was decided to be sold for a symbolic amount of 1 euro with the condition of mandatory reconstruction. It was acquired by the Consortium De Flat group of companies, which invited NL Architects to cooperate. Architects consider the house a valuable monument of modernism, a “product” of the most vulnerable architectural era today, worthy of respect. However, their project provides for a pragmatic approach to the problem: if it is not "viable", "Kleyburgh" will die.
To bring the house back to its austere form, three external elevator shafts, which were added in the 1980s, will be demolished. In return, new elevators will be installed in the interior. It is planned to renovate not only them, but also open galleries, staircases, and the structure itself, while apartments, on the contrary, will be rented out to tenants without any finishing and without interior partitions. This will minimize the amount of investment required and also give freedom to future tenants. They will even be able to connect several apartments on the floor into one or make a duplex.
While they are offered complete freedom in the interior, the architects plan to keep the exterior as uniform as possible - as an important aspect of the original project. In contrast to the currently existing similar "facades" of apartments that open into galleries, residents will be offered a catalog of wooden modules made in the same style: there are options for double apartments, for those who want to make panoramic glazing, etc. Nice wood texture and more open than first, the character of such a design should give "Kleiburg" a new look and image.
The last unsolved problem is parking. The authorities plan to demolish the flyovers, as the space under them has become a hotbed of criminal activity, and return the cars to ground level. Multi-storey garages will also be demolished. As a result, open parking lots will occupy part of the green areas. The architects propose to cut down only the least valuable trees, and the parking lots and paths will meander around the remaining ones, without disturbing the environment with rough rectangular outlines.
