This was the second walk-in meeting after the presentation of the draft designs in September of last year. Around 50 people came to view the updated designs for DUET. There was also plenty of information about the design of the surrounding public area. The buildings have been designed by Zecc architecten, commissioned by the Eigen Haard housing corporation. Talks with local residents, future occupants and between the City of Amsterdam and the architect have resulted in changes to design for the building and the public space surrounding it.
Modifications to public space design
‘The ground floor will include small-scale group housing for people with dementia, coordinated by the OdenseThuis Founcation (in Dutch)’, says landscape architect Lars den Admirant. ‘This kind of facility needs to be safely separated from the area around it. How to achieve that has proved something of a challenge.’ The original idea was to install a boundary in the form of a wall or hedging. But a different suggestion emerged during the talks. ‘The idea is to have a softer transition to the public space. The outer areas of the building and the public space will merge almost unnoticed into each other because of all the planting, but there is a separation in the form of vertical panelling between the plants. This will provide protection and safety for residents, but will hardly be noticeable from the street side.’
Connection to Zuider Amstelkanaal
The buildings will be tiered in shape, featuring two collective roof terraces pointed towards each other on the sixth floor. On the terraces and façades, there will be plenty of room for plants and other greenery. Other design features will also help to ensure that the buildings merge with the surrounding public area. The choice of plants to be positioned around the buildings will aim to create a link between what is growing in Fred. Roeskestraat and the plants on the banks of the Zuider Amstelkanaal. Den Admirant: ‘On both sides of the building, there will also be spacious pathways amid the planting and these will form the physical connection between the street, the green banks of the Zuider Amstelkanaal and the pedestrian bridge leading to the Stadionbuurt. We are opting for minimal street paving.’ Thirteen trees will be removed, partly because of their condition and partly because of the two new residential buildings. ‘We will compensate for the loss of these trees by adding more in the future public space.’
Modifications to the building
Zecc architecten have also made modifications to the building’s design. For example, the façade of DUET facing Fred. Roeskestraat and the Zuider Amstelkanaal has been made more transparent, by combining and adding windows. The colour differences between the two buildings are now more nuanced than in the previous design: the same bricks will be used, but there will be accent differences in the grouting, the window frames and the use of materials in the outdoor spaces.
Different forms of housing
The Eigen Haard housing corporation is developing the around 180 social rental apartments in DUET between the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the De Fred housing complex in. The building on the north side, bordering the Zuider Amstelkanaal, will include 90 homes for the elderly. The adjacent building in Fred. Roeskestraat will feature 90 regular apartments, with one to three bedrooms. As mentioned above, the ground floor will include small-scale group housing for people with dementia. Both buildings will have several homes for wheelchair users, a communal area and an integrated bicycle’s storage facility. It is also expected that there will be a health centre with a general practice in the building in Fred. Roeskestraat.
Design, construction and completion
The definitive design for the residential buildings will be completed this year and construction is expected to start in 2025. If all goes well, the definitive design for the public space will be ready in the summer of 2025. Both the building and the public space are expected to be completed in 2027.
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