Designed by René van Zuuk Architects, The Belvedere tower’s innovative form is both informed and defined by the constraints of its site, it’s designed began with a rigorous analysis of these urban surrounding.

Located in the town of Hilversum the building’s site sits in an area of nondescript, four-story, post-war housing. In the 1980s six additional, modernist towers were constructed to the south of this area. The tower’s site marks the culmination of this series and sits on a prominent bend in the Oosterengweg bypass, a major thoroughfare through the small town. Due to the tower’s prominent position, the municipality desired a building that would be sculptural in form and architecturally iconic. This exposed location also meant the proposed building would be visible from all sides and it, therefore, became important to design a building with a clear and logical symmetry.
The building’s superficially large, triangular site is in fact limited by a number of key constraints, including requirements in relation to the minimum distance from the property boundary, as well as a complex network of utility pipes running beneath the site. The building’s footprint was therefore limited to no larger than 450 m2 (15% of the plot). These limitation coupled with the stipulation of a maximum building height of no more than 11 stories meant a traditional tower block design would result in a building comprising of no more than 44 residential unit...