Social housing Montana Abou

With Montana Abou, we aimed to design modern Caribbean architecture that redefines what social housing can look like. This project entails 71 social housing apartments and 9 senior citizen homes.

As one of the few stacked housing projects on Curaçao, it challenges the idea that affordable housing must look generic or low-quality. Our goal was to create inclusive, high-quality architecture accessible to all types of households.

Objectives and inspiration

We started with designing an urban plan in collaboration with Zarja Architecture. The residential area is part of Montaña – a large neighborhood with a rich diversity of housing, landscapes, and residents. This project centered around transforming an old diabase mining pit located between two contrasting neighborhoods: a 1970s social housing area and a middle-class “zelfbouw” (self-build) community. Though physically close, these neighborhoods were developed with their backs to each other—both literally and socially.

Our key ambition was to connect these communities. Inspired by Medellín’s Urbanismo Social, which we studied during a field trip to Colombia, we sought to apply similar principles of socially driven urban planning.

Connecting with the neighborhood

Before designing, we walked the neighborhoods with residents, community leaders, and stakeholders—from government officials to developers. It was the first time many had visited each other’s communities. These conversations shaped our design approach, ensuring it reflected both local needs and aspirations.

Amenities and commercial units were planned to the north of the open mining pit as part of the urban design from the late seventies. Besides a church, a kindergarten, a pharmacy and a medical center, this area is characterized by open fields. The brief was simple: connect the neighborhoods, create as many plots as possible and divide them between a private developer (middle-class housing) and the social housing foundation Fundashon Kas Popular.

Part of a big complex

Diversity within the project was important to us. Mixing social housing and middle class housing was a step too far. But we did succeed to have them in different areas within the same development, not a common practice in Curaçao. A significant step toward more inclusive urban planning. We were pleased when Fundashon Kas Popular supported the idea of stacked and connected housing.

We were tasked with designing 9 senior homes (50–55 m²) and 71 apartments (63–73 m²). The senior homes form a small cul-de-sac where all units face one another. Because the houses are interconnected it is difficult to distinguish a single unit. That gave us the possibility to make a bigger architectural statement. You do not live in a small unit but you live in a ‘big’complex.

Life in the alleys

Stacked housing is rare on Curaçao and often poorly copied from Western models. Instead of galleries or closed stairwells, we looked at how we can adapt the design for the local climate and culture. Our inspiration came from the historic alleys of Otrobanda. Narrow yet vibrant, these alleys have long fostered close community life and serve as extensions of the home. This outdoor area is where you talk with the neighbors or party with the family.

We’ve tried to mimic this idea vertically, using open staircases that connects several apartments. These shared spaces are at least 5 meters wide—matching the typical width of Otrobanda’s alleys and meeting fire safety codes. These open areas encourage interaction and ensure cross-ventilation.

Efficient social housing

We started by designing the ideal floor plan for a 2 and 3 bedroom apartment together with the housing foundation. After that we proceeded to incorporate those floorplans in the design principle of the urban design. Varying in height and following the land both horizontally and vertically. This resulted in a playful composition.

We pushed for high-quality windows that could be left open without compromising safety or comfort—keeping out burglars and mosquitoes alike. Their cost was offset through efficient repetition in the design.

Finishing

With this project, we demonstrated that social housing can be both visually appealing and serve as a unifying element between existing neighborhoods. The development of this area aimed to improve living conditions for social housing residents and to contribute to a stronger social infrastructure.

The first homes were completed in 2022. Afterward, work continued on the public space, including parking and landscaping. In this 2024 video interview, you can see how the area has taken shape.