Where in Zuidas
The renovation of the Strawinskyhuis will get the ball rolling. FLOW Real Estate and Egeria Real Estate Development will convert the existing building into a sustainable office providing approximately 9,200 square metres of office space that meets today’s standards both on the inside and on the outside. The building currently still houses some offices for the nearby courthouse, but those will be relocated once the new courthouse building opens in the spring. After that, the developers will start work on the first modifications to the Strawinskyhuis from June 2021 onwards.
Covered courtyard
The Strawinskyhuis dates from the early 1970s. The shape of the building will remain largely unchanged, but the exterior will look quite different. Much more glass will be incorporated to give the building a more accessible and transparent appearance. The height of the building will stay the same, but more space will be created inside. The inner courtyard will be covered over, creating a spacious atrium, and many of the installations that are currently on the roof will be removed and replaced with plants, solar panels, and a roof terrace. Construction work is expected to be completed in the summer of 2022..
Prinses Irenestraat 59
The building at Prinses Irenestraat 59 will be given a slightly more radical make-over. The building is currently still home to the Amsterdam International Community School (AICS), but this will move to a new building on A.J. Ernsstraat. G&S Vastgoed, and Nuveen Real Estate will then convert the building into offices and give the building a much greener look. Of the current 113 parking spaces, 33 will disappear and the remaining 80 parking spaces will be relocated to a semi-underground parking facility, with access from Prinses Irenestraat. By redesigning the car park in this way, the cars will be much less visible from the street. There will also be 400 bicycle storage spaces within the building itself. A public sports facility will be created on the roof.
Café/restaurant
The building, which was built in the 1970s like the Strawinskyhuis, will be expanded by 5,000 square metres. The ‘house’ on the roof (see aerial photo above) will be extended to create an extra floor, and the building’s concrete frame will be widened on the Parnassusweg side. That will create room for a publicly accessible café/restaurant where people who work in the office building and local residents can go for coffee, lunch, or an evening meal. Two additional pavilions will be built on the side of Strawinskypad. The exterior of this building, built in the Brutalist style, will also get a radical facelift. Just like the Strawinskyhuis, the exterior walls will be rebuilt to incorporate large areas of glass and a lot of greenery will be added, both on and around the building. G&S Vastgoed and Nuveen Real Estate will start work on the renovation project in early 2022 and it is expected to be finished by the end of 2023.
Green strip
Once the Strawinskyhuis has been given its new look and number 59 has also been transformed, the next job will be to redesign Prinses Irenestraat itself. That will include extending the green strip that already runs along the eastern side of the Prinses Irenestraat as far as Beethovenstraat. This will help to capture excess runoff water, so that it’s not discharged directly into the drains all at once. The green strip is part of our contribution to the Rainproof Amsterdam programme. Work on the green strip is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024. It will extend to a length of 80 metres all the way to Parnassusweg.
Impact on the surrounding area
All in all, the various projects on Prinses Irenestraat will take over three years, and that is bound to have an impact on the local area. Unfortunately, some disruption and inconvenience is inevitable. However, we will make every effort to limit this wherever possible. We are now working on a solution for site traffic that will minimize the disruption to the surrounding area. We will insist on a safe and manageable traffic plan with little or no extra traffic directed through nearby residential streets. We initially wanted to create a link to Strawinskylaan for traffic to and from the construction sites. Unfortunately, this proved impossible due to the difference in height between Prinses Irenestraat and Strawinskylaan, the limited space, existing traffic volume on Strawinskylaan, and the safety requirements for hoisting materials. We are now considering a temporary connection between Prinses Irenestraat and Parnassusweg for site traffic. Traffic could then enter Prinses Irenestraat from Beethovenstraat and leave the street via Parnassusweg. This would eliminate the need for hazardous manoeuvres in Prinses Irenestraat itself, and no site traffic would need to use local residential streets.
Online meeting
Would you like more information? We will be holding an information meeting on Tuesday 16 February between 19.30 and 21.00. Due to social distancing measures, this will be held online using Microsoft Teams. You can register by sending an email to contact@zuidas.nl. We will then let you know more about how to participate.
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