Soendablok Apartments, Amsterdam Apartments, Dutch Housing, Netherlands Architecture Images

Soendablok Apartments in Amsterdam

6 Oct 2021

Design: M3H Architects

Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Soendablok Apartments

In the past twenty years, the Indische Buurt in Amsterdam has been radically renovated. From a poorly maintained neighborhood to a lively residential area. Streets and squares were given a facelift and thousands of homes were refurbished or replaced. Yet the social character that makes this neighborhood so special has not been lost. This is clearly reflected in the new Soenda residential building of M3H, where interaction is key.

Housing blocks are often designed purely for private use and are therefore set back from the street. With the Soenda block it is exactly the opposite. In the design, the focus is on making contact. Contact with the street, with the neighborhood and with each other.

Soenda consists entirely of social housing. In total block has 130 homes. Thanks to these kinds of projects, the renovated Indische Buurt also remains accessible to various types of incomes.

There are maisonettes on the ground floor and the first floor. These ‘city houses’ each have their own garden and front door for direct contact with the street. This promotes liveliness and interaction with the neighbourhood. The floors above are filled with apartments. These apartments are twice as wide (8.4 meters) and have many windows at the front and rear. This also stimulates contact and social interaction between the residents.

Meetings are also encouraged outside the home. Therefore we decided to place short galleries. The outdoor spaces are also located at the ends of this. But the meeting actually starts at the entrance. The main entrances and stairwells are designed relatively broadly, in order to contribute to a pleasant feeling of coming home and coming together.

If you look at the building, you will see the galleries that meander from the outside in. This creates a varying facade image. When you are getting closer to the building you will see that the masonry consists of horizontal and vertical masonry bond. You will also see more than one entrance. The more than one hundred meters long block has four main entrances. These inputs divide the block into three parts.

In places where you can approach and touch the building, such as at the individual front doors and main entrances, extra attention has been paid to the details and the materials used.

Residents of the city houses have a garden that borders the collective garden, which is also a hundred meters long. This communal garden is for all residents. The green courtyard gives every resident a sense of collectivity and thereby contributes to biodiversity in the city. The courtyard becomes increasingly spacious towards the top due to the receding facades and galleries.

The block has even more green features. Both visible, such as the specially designed balcony fences on which residents can place flower boxes, and invisible. For example, the roof is covered with solar panels. Each house has its own solar panels. In addition, the panels provide the lighting in the stairwells and the parking basement with power, and there are a number of charging stations for electric cars in the basement.

PARTNERS
De Alliantie, client
Adams Bouwadviesbureau, constructor
Coen Hagedoorn, contractor

How is the project unique?
This project is filled with social housing. It is part of the renewed areas in Amsterdam. But because projects like this excist it is still possible for people with a low income to be part of these areas.

What are the sustainability features?
The social housing apartments all have solar panels. The roof is covered with these panels. The panels also provide power for the lights in building like in the stairwells and the parking basement. There are also charging stations for electric cars in the basement.

Soendablok Apartments in Amsterdam, Holland – Building Information

Design: M3H Architects

Completion date: 2021
Building levels: 4

Photography: M3H Architects

Soendablok Apartments, Amsterdam images / information received 061021

Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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image courtesy of architects
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