The 30-metre-long black, graphic facade of House M&M immediately catches the eye as you walk along the perimeter of Funenpark in Amsterdam. House M&M is all about the transformation of an old shack in a unique private residence with studio at just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre. The residence is an excellent example of how to create a unique, striking design that is informed by the specific characteristics of the surroundings.
The façade’s sleek lines and gold fencing accentuate the house’s elongated form. The sturdy materials that make up the facade and the steel skeleton of the building allude to the premises’ former function. The open-plan residence is accessible via a patio behind the gold fencing. Its heart is formed by a wooden core that houses the facilities. The spaces around these are the living areas. Sightlines along the residence’s entire length create an open interior and a smooth transition from indoor to outdoor.
Located in the heart of Amsterdam Science Park is MVRDV’s design for Matrix 1, an office and laboratory complex that combines standard laboratories with playful and spacious social areas. The University of Amsterdam (UvA) has reached an agreement to occupy around a quarter of the 13,000m2 building to host the SustainaLab, a specialist facility for research into sustainability that aims to stimulate creative cooperation between education, research, government, and entrepreneurship. The construction of Matrix 1 is expected to start in 2020, with the opening planned for the beginning of 2022.
You can wander through the Dutch polder landscape while at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The landscape was the main source of inspiration behind the new Holland Boulevard, an international departures hall designed by NEXT architects and that now comprises various typical Dutch-inspired sitting rooms. These rooms are separated by low walls; together, they form the horizon of this vast space of 5,000 m2. Each room has its own atmosphere and ambiance and so the Holland Boulevard takes visitors on a real voyage of discovery.
Rapidly expanding architecture practice HofmanDujardin needed a new Amsterdam home that reflected its unique design philosophy, Shaping Intuition®. So the team conducted a collaborative ‘in-house’ design project to create the HofmanDujardin Office Villa inside an old warehouse. The space is already energising the team, inspiring visitors and proving that an office can be much more than just a place to work.
Form and Function
HofmanDujardin needed more space for its growing team and the new headquarters also had to foster a lively environment for creative work and social activities. Because an architecture firm’s office is also its shop window, it had to demonstrate the team’s creative skills and technical capabilities.
Most importantly of all, however, it had to follow HofmanDujardin’s guiding concept for all projects – Shaping Intuition®. This is a personal approach to architecture, developed over the firm’s 20-year career, which focuses on the well-being of people in their environments.
On the corner of a quiet canal street and De Clerqstraat in Amsterdam you can find the new girl in town: Ramona. This vibrant, authentic space designed by Studio Modijefsky is the refreshing latest addition to the Amsterdam West hospitality scene.
Imagine if a young, rebellious daughter of a traditional Belgian cafe owner was opening her own place- Ramona would be it. The interior references the tradition of classic bars with plenty of dark wood, stained glass, protective wall panelling, and mirror finishes; all reinvented with a much younger attitude.
This unusual combination results in a bohemian space, where bold details and unexpectedly layered materials create an eccentric vibe in its own right.
ASICS, the world-renowned sports and lifestyle brand, has officially moved into their new EMEA headquarters 10 km southeast of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Powerhouse Company, in collaboration with RED Company, won the competition to design the 11.600 m² state-of-the-art headquarters. The team’s vision for the flagship headquarters as a showcase for the ASICS brand and healthy and sustainable workplace will accommodate the company’s future growth and evolving business needs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The resulting building is more than a workplace: it is a destination for local and international employees, product buyers and visitors to celebrate the ASICS legacy and shape its future.
Ever wondered what design from the perspective of a home-owner looks like? This month, two new owners will take the keys to their very own Freebooter apartment; two residences on Amsterdam’s Zeeburgereiland, created with biophilic living in mind.
Designed and developed by Amsterdam-based studio GG-loop, the project is an expression of the studio’s signature and philosophy of responding to the design brief with the experience and wellbeing of the end-user continuously in mind.
Casco Loft is an interior design project developed by FABRICations for one of the Superlofts Houthaven , in Amsterdam. The three stories dwelling takes advantage of the flexibility of the structure to deliver an innovative experience of a housing interior, in line with the resiliency principles of FABRICations.
The design relies on a range of strategies that aim to privilege interaction and flexibility, encouraging shared activities and free use. Enclosed spaces, like the bedrooms, are minimized and strategically placed to leave visual and physical proximity of common spaces.
The municipality of New West (a town district of Amsterdam) is already for years simultaneously on multiple locations working on a large scale renewal of the Westen Garden Cities of Amsterdam. In this framework De Bomentuin is a small scale project, that is fitted in the neighborhood with modesty and carefulness. The project is realized on the site of the Slotermeerhof, a complex of duplex apartments belonging to the residential home for the elderly, Slotermeeroord from 1963. The small dwellings were demolished in order to make place for more spacious and comfortable apartments and family houses.
Benthem Crouwel Architects transformed an empty, neglected office building in Amsterdam South into a high quality, inspiring and sustainable office where all employees of the Goede Doelen Loterijen (Dutch Charity Lotteries) can work together. The building received the BREEAM rating ‘Outstanding’- making it the most sustainable renovated property in the Netherlands.
An office like a home
The 600 employees of the Goede Doelen Loterijen had been scattered among different locations for years, and the client wanted to give them a collective home. This home needed to be a highly sustainable building, an important condition for this company that has sustainability as one of its core values. The social ambitions and idealism of the Goede Doelen Loterijen are now made visible in their office building – a transparent, accessible building that serves the employees as well as the neighborhood, and is a welcome addition to the nearby business district Amsterdam Zuidas.
Project Team: Saartje van der Made, Jan Benthem, Cees Zuidervaart, Gwendolyn Huisman, Alina Zaytseva, Volker Krenz, Daphne Tempelman, Jeroen Jonk, Klary Koopmans In samenwerking met Vandejong Creative Agency: Pjotr de Jong, Cyril van Sterkenburg, Lucie Pindat, Isabelle Bronzwaer
Interior Design: D/Dock design studio and Yolanda Loudon
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