Mecanoo’s Kruisplein youth housing: A critical project on HAT housing policy for small households

One- and two-person households are predominant in most developed countries; moreover, they are the fastest growing, including the Netherlands (75%). This trend dates back to the 1960s, when they started to increase sharply due to social, economic and political developments, leading towards a more diverse society (38%). In 1975, the Dutch government responded to this new demand by introducing so-called “HAT units”, one and two-person housing units, through the Nota on Housing for One and Two-person Households (Huisvesting Alleenstaanden en Tweepersoonshuishoudens). Over 77.000 HAT units were built between 1975 and 1995. This paper analyses a project developed under the impact of this innovative housing policy: the Youth Housing Project (Jongerenhuisvesting) in Kruisplein, Rotterdam, by Architectengroep Mecanoo, designed and built between 1981 and 1985, which introduced innovation in housing design by offering a critical perspective on how the housing problem of target groups such as young people was addressed at the time.