A rooftop running track will connect the two towers of this housing complex, designed by Milan-based Peter Pichler Architecture for a Dutch town.

Peter Pichler's firm won an international competition with its design for the Looping Towers. The figure-of-eight-shaped scheme will be built in Maarssen, Utrecht, on a plot facing the Vecht river.

Measuring 35,000 square metres in total, the scheme will include 260 apartments, set within two L-shaped towers at opposite corners of the site.

This layout creates open spaces at the centre of the site, and also leaves space for the running track, which will top a low-rise structure that connects the two towers. Because of the figure-of-eight shape, this track extends through part of the building.

As well as the track, there will also be a swimming pool on top of the western tower.

The central opening will give residents clear views to the river on the northern side of the site, while also allowing plenty of light into the building from the south. Similarly, the sloped sides of the block will also help to give each home enough natural light.

"[The] proposal for two looping towers are the result of an optimised geometry based on views and sunlight," said Peter Pichler Architecture." The naturally formed terraces generate multiple views towards the old city and achieve a maximum sunlight during the day."

Each of the apartments will be duplex, featuring large glazed walls outlined by angular white frames. Renderings show that each of the two-storey homes will feature light-filled, double-height lower floors and a smaller mezzanine upper level.

The low-rise structure that criss-crosses the centre of the site will contain communal facilities for residents, including a gymnasium.

Peter Pichler describes his studio's approach as "innovative and contemporary". Previous projects include a mountain restaurant in South Tyrolean Dolomite, the conversion of a 14th century farmhouse into a family residence and a house for a photographer.

Renderings are by Visualarch.

Project credits:

Architecture: Peter Pichler Architecture
Project team: Peter Pichler, Gianluigi D'Aloisio, Daniele Colombati, Simona Alu , Giovanni Paterlini, Ugo Licciardi, Silvana Ordinas