Brisk

In the coming years – addressing housing shortage in Amsterdam – Bullewijk office area in Amsterdam will undergo a major transformation from a monofunctional office zone to an attractive urban condition where greenery, living and working harmoniously coexist at very high urban densities. Backbone of this transformation – connecting the Arena to the A9 and Ikea – Hondsrugweg street will be converted into a park (Hondsrugpark) with high buildings on both sides.

Brisk is a part of the Amstel-III Urban Development Plan, situated at the eastern side of the future park. Plan is designed by West 8 in collaboration with the municipality and developers. It envisions a sequence of projects, each one of which facing two very distinctive conditions: an urban front along the main street and public space network, and an intimate and atmospheric small-scale courtyard in the middle of the plan.

Our proposal responds to this challenging vision by the conceptualization of two characteristic urban ambients: a high-rise residential and office urban front along the Hondsrugpark and an intimate and atmospheric courtyard (hof) facing the middle of the plan.

The three-layer plinth at the Hondsrugpark has space for almost 4000m² of office space. The office forms the basis on which three cantilevering volumes are stacked. Along the so-called “cross street” (Hettenheuvelweg) there are two buildings with 103 social rental apartments. The entrance zone to these buildings forms an open passage to the car-free courtyard. Here, eleven ground-level one-family homes face the organically designed courtyard by Lodewijk Baljon.