The plot is a narrow piece of land along Grasweg, bordering ‘t IJ, with a view of the city centre of Amsterdam. The direct vicinity is mainly consisting of small industries and office buildings, with a lack of high-quality public space.

Studio Selva was asked to make a study for temporary apartments for students and young renters, with a higher quality in comparison to other temporary projects. Just like the Student Village project, the development will mainly attract pioneers that will slowly transform the program from industrial to housing. Instead of building directly towards the water, we proposed a “perforated block” so that the majority of the inhabitants could enjoy the view.

The lack of urbanity in the surroundings is compensated by the introduction of an accessible waterfront. Using a “base unit” that can be extended we proposed a clever and very efficient production of different sizes of apartments. The facade itself is repetitive and can be engineered and produced quickly, while the jumping balconies brings more playfulness to the design. The use of weathering steel and glass in larges surfaces refers to the industrial past of the site.

Landscape design by Buiten5.

Project typeStudy
StatusNot built
ClientDe Meeuw
Year2016
LocationAmsterdam, NL
Surface12 000 m2