Text description provided by the architects. Dutch architects MVRDV shared with us their latest housing project.
Photographs by Rob't Hart
The building which has just been completed with a total surface of 6000 m2 contains 46 apartments and a day-care centre. Each apartment has a balcony of varying depths which stretch as bands along the entire facade, offering varied outside spaces and views over the western docklands of Amsterdam. The floor-to-ceiling glass façade can be fully opened and contrasts with the other buildings within the so called VOC Cour port redevelopment that are mainly made of brick.
The urban plan is a closed city block with buildings of differing heights surrounding a central court. After two earlier urban plans failed, the client O.M.A. (Ontwikkelings Maatschappij Apeldoorn) has in fact determined the current urban plan. The MVRDV building is located inside the court with one façade facing the waterfront of the Westerdok. The project started in 2004 and is currently one of the nominees for the Amsterdam Architecture Award.
