Amsterdam - Olympisch Kwartier

Amsterdam Olympisch Kwartier

In the perspective of the Amsterdam School Lafour, Wijk and Ebberink’s urban development plan extends H.P. Berlage’s renowned Amsterdam South development to the south of the Olympic Stadium by adding a neighbourhood of 6 blocks of apartments. The vision for this ‘Olympic Quarter’ is an extension of the expressionistic early 20th century Amsterdam School architecture of Amsterdam South, where the facades of the buildings form walls which frame the ‘interior’ of the street.

Contact with the context is the core of our concept. Our architectural development aspires to the quality of the Amsterdam School, with its striking street walls: massive, expressionist, differentiated and imagi­ natively detailed, but now created under present-day conditions.

The quality of housing is more uniformly high nowadays, both within the home and in its relation to its exterior surroundings (outside areas, views, the fall of sunlight, security fittings, ventilation, insulation).

In addition, the production methods, with a load-bearing inner struc­ ture clad by an outer shell, minimise the man-hours spent in prepara­ tion, construction and maintenance in comparison with the building methods of the 1920’s.

Principal BPF Bouwinvest bv

Despite its elegant construction, the design aims at a rationalisation of housing types by a process of standardisation starting from the corners.

By subsequently giving the aisles a repeating rhythm of 6.9 and 3.6 metres, a strong element of continuity is added to the south wall oppo­ site the stadium. The eastern and western corners also have their own orientation, creating the same head/body articulation. The apartments themselves have a traditional urban front/rear layout. The calm, light inner side of the enclosed building block is accentuated by the repeti­ tion of adjoining bedrooms with small balconies. At the front, the more dynamic city side, the living rooms benefit from being made as broad as possible. This contrast between ‘front’ and ‘rear’ is further amplified on the sunny side facing the square by the Olympic Stadium.

To give the city frontage its required distinction, the outside areas situated in the 3.6 metre aisle are not laid out as balconies but as extra ‘conservatory rooms’.

The apartments with an east-west orientation in the point-shaped block are finished in such a way that, with a neutral type of apartment, the choice between locating the living area at the front or the rear remains open. This block also has a more public ‘inner’ courtyard.

The outside areas – the conservatories and balconies – are here housed together with the lifts and stairs in one transparent aisle, so that not only the gateways but also the construction itself ‘breathe’ more in relation to the inner and outer worlds.

Wholly in keeping with Amsterdam tradition, a pavilion for a daycare centre has been designed to stand in this inner courtyard. At the apex of the inner area, the social and service areas for the residents, includ­ ing a swimming pool and gym, social and meeting spaces and extra visitors’ accommodation are layered on a patio.

Project team Martin Dalenberg Jurgen Ditzel Martin de Graaf Wilko de Haan André Hillebrand Jaap Hikke Dorien Mulder

Contractor Bouwcombinatie Bot - de Nijs vof Architect Rudy Uytenhaak Marco Romano Design team Thomas Bernhardt Tanja Buijs Joppe Kneppers Jos Rijs Ingrid Turpijn Engbert van der Zaag

Function / Type 296 apartments parkinggarage business spaces swimming pool gym daycare centre concierge visitor accomodation Building total € 46,000,000 Start design 1999 Completion 2004 - 2005

situation

overview plans

apartment types - corners

apartment types - standard

details south façade

details west façade

The Urban profile Amsterdam School projects boast a rich repertoire all the way from their basements to the crowning glory of their rooftops, which indi­ vidualise the walls at their tops and bottoms, and so enhance their linearity, leading the streets onwards, and so preventing their expres­ sion being defined by a mere stacking-up of apartments. The pedestal of the apartment blocks in this plan, constructed using split brick with a cream-white natural stone layer, was given extra relief using horizontal strips of light natural travertine stone, horizontal on the south side and vertical on the eastern and western walls. The window and door frames are of white-painted wood, in places with the ‘thick/thin dynamic’ of the Amsterdam School. Broad roofs, parallel with the street, often play a major role in the silhouette. To articulate the elevation of six storeys, tiled roofs – still up-to-date in terms of technique and economy, and an appropriate material – are used to crown the plan. Amsterdam School facades usually have an enclosed character, and so form typical street-walls with much use of brick­ work. Brickwork, and door and window frames, are often used in

an expressionist style, playing with and adding accents to the mass of the apartment block. Maximum dynamism is added to the ‘seams’ of the buildings by placing details of door and window frames in front of, or behind, the brickwork surface. The vertically-accented walls here face onto large open areas, and thus offer the apartments poten­ tial wide views. In addition, the large blocks make for relatively deep apartments, so the light has to penetrate into them well. The design therefore aims to create outer walls which are perceived as open from within the apartments. This produces a conflict with the closed aspect of the walls which is required by the urban development plan, but this is resolved in the depth of the outer walls: by strongly expanding the ‘seams’ of the brickwork, with an extra layer of brick which is placed in pillars on the 2 metre perpendicular of the outer wall, the walls are still given substance. In this way, seen from the street, a more closed effect is created, certainly from a diagonal view, while seen from inside in the direction of the depth of the apartments the brickwork is invisible behind the window frames.

section

first floor

concept

ground floor

Daycare centre

Condominium - swimming pool

Wholly in keeping with Amsterdam tradition, a pavilion for a daycare

The trowel-shaped block has an ‘inner’ courtyard, through which

centre has been designed to stand in this inner courtyard. This small

a public route leads to the waterside boulevard. A gateway over 3

block is entirely clad in brickwork: traditional in style on the north

storeys in the extension of the angled central street leads here. Within

side, partly opened out to give the inner courtyard light from above,

the sharp internal angle, the communal and service areas for the

and with brickwork slats to the south and on the roof in the same

residents are layered above a patio, giving the block its ‘condominium

style as the outer street walls. In this way the volume acquires an

quality’. This ‘residential hotel’ thus contains a swimming pool, sauna,

abstract yet subtle character which can be ‘read’ from the apartments.

gym, meeting areas, launderette, hair and beauty salon, and extra

At street level, the free-standing volume is cut through by natural

guest rooms. From ground level, a spacious ceremonial stairway leads

stone walls which border on the inner courtyard. This creates a spatial

under a rising grassed roof from the entrance to the foyer on the patio

hinge in the building between inside and outside, frontal square and

at basement level. There is also a second entrance from the parking

play area. The organisation of the group areas and of the adjacent

garages and the porticos to these facilities around the swimming

functions is an expression of this, with a simple and clear design.

pool. The atmosphere here is subdued in character and colour: with

Large sliding doors and glass façades create the possibility of multi-

a floor of anthracite natural stone, the pool clad in fine white mosaic

faceted relationships between indoor and outdoor areas.

and the ceiling in warm wood. Very large sliding façades make it possible to open up virtually the entire outer wall surface onto the outside terrace. All the spaces are designed around the patio, mutually accessible and integrated with one another.

10

11