A Home for the expat in Amsterdam

Abstract

This building focuses on living together and creating a community for the Expats in Amsterdam. By creating units that include smaller residential communities with transition zones for private-, community- and public life in the city. The building attempts to provide a stimulus for the emergence of a more tangible new community. Housing construction remains an important theme in architecture. Especially considering the current tightness in the housing market. This results in a search for densification strategies to meet the housing needs of large cities. The Expettenflats are two residential buildings on the Minervahaven in Amsterdam with a differentiated range of furnished apartments. The facade is characterized by the sleek concrete structure and the gold-bronze head of anodized aluminum elements. The deep negro attempts to give the residents a "framed view" of the harbor and the city. Within the design it was important to create a truly sustainable building with a materialization that can easily stand the test of time, while at the same time having a lifespan of at least 100 years and having the flexibility to perform multiple functions.Amsterdam is more and more becoming a city of migrants, both domestic and international. Everyone is so used to people coming and going, they are reluctant to connect. During the Dutch Housing graduation studio I designed mixed-use towers, to give the growing fluid population, predominantly the expats, a place Amsterdam society. The building tries to give the expat a face by creating a building that reveals their qualities to the Dutch population. These new planned high-rise buildings, planned on the intersection of the new urban plan and the existing business district of the Danzigkade, at the Minervahaven in Amsterdam. The building was designed with certain conceptual principles at the bases, established to reflect neighbourhood concerns and ambitions: An expat community, (the intersection lies in the heart of the city’s urban expansion and its tech and creative industries, openness and accessibility to everyone, artistic and cultural activities, small-scale retail, bold street statement, and celebrate the new industries and inhabitants. Through this possible conceptual design principles were introduced for for the development’s podium. These concepts were eventually converted into a collected form that composed of various aspects that refined the qualities of the building, the site and the possible functional interpretations. The refined concept for the podium concepts presents a combination of favoured elements for different uses, along with a proposed dwelling plan for expats in the towers. The site upon which the towers are placed is a central public square for the neighbourhood, and the building has to recognize, embrace, and celebrate that. The building took inspiration from the two streets it is connected with. The Danzigkade has low-rise and retail plinths, while intermediate streets form residential courts. The towers are respectively divided into 3 and 4 separate masses. The public floors above every six floors that create different distinct volumes within the vertical raster that create a transition between the base volume and the tower element. Topping off at approximately 95 meters, the tower’s exterior consists of an alternating pattern of solids and voids, clad in a combination of architectural metal panels and vision glass.