Amsterdam-based Loos Architects has completed the design of the De Salamander apartment building in Zaandam, the Netherlands.
Below is a comprehensive selection of images of the project and below is a project description by Miguel Loos of Loos Architects:
Zaandam's residential complex of 79 apartments blends into its surroundings like a snake in a basket. The block includes apartments for rent in the free and social housing sectors, as well as 14 serviced apartments and group facilities for young people with disabilities.
The distinctive sloping roofline is a response to the built context: small terraced houses on one side and multi-storey residential blocks on the other. To avoid overshadowing the terraced houses, new buildings need to be kept quite low.
However, this does not result in the ideal number of apartments. Therefore, we chose a volume that simultaneously spirals along the irregular perimeter of the plot, thus adapting to the scale of the neighboring buildings. This spiral movement also encloses a quiet inner courtyard.
As the building is located on a busy road, we decided to clad the typical Dutch reinforced concrete structure in a rough black brick veneer. The bricks are laid on their sides to create recesses and increase the tactility of the facade. The sculptural character of the building literally translates into the smaller scale of a single stone. The actual thickness of the cladding, visible through the openings in the facade, creates a striking contrast to its solid appearance.
Behind the facade are the corridors and the facades of the apartments, covered with yellow-green panels. The apartment in general overlooks the quiet courtyard, where the wooden cladding and soft curves create a warm and inviting atmosphere. "Rough shell, soft core" seems to be the motto of the building.
Only at the narrow ends has the brick cladding of the block been stripped away, leaving the interior open to passers-by. The apartments have either balconies facing the outside of the block or large access galleries along the inner courtyard, which can also be used as balconies. In this way it is best to take advantage of the north-south orientation.
The courtyard is designed as a communal garden for all residents to use. There is a small independent garden on the east side of the block for disabled apartments. In addition, the sloping roofscape is covered with moss, so the apartments on the top floor have great views.
Thanks to its sloping roofs and curvilinear shape, the neighborhood is not only home to many different types of apartments, some with extra high ceilings or roof terraces, but it also looks different from every angle. Time and movement are important factors in its perception: To understand the whole building, you need to move in and around it.
The block was named "Salamander" because the yellow cladding of the gallery is clearly visible behind the black-skinned openings, especially at night.
Side-by-side installations like this one form the backbone of this sculptural building. Solid and soft, dark and colorful, industrial and artisanal, simple and playful come together in Salamander.
The residential complex has 65 rental apartments and 14 disabled apartments (including disabled apartments). public space
Client: PARTEON, a Dutch housing company in Zaandam
Apartments for disabled customers:
Stichting ODION, Purmerund, NL
Design
Master of Engineering. MA Miguel Loos, Amsterdam, with Bjarne Mastenbroek
Team:
Gert Jan van Gineneck, Peter Hoogendoorn, Jost Wisius, Holger Muchmann, Thon Gillison, Wilma Groenendijk, Mike Davis, Ralph Dougan, Katarina Vlanova, Roger Van Wear, Julia Long
Landscape design (realized in 2007):
Terra Firma, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Contractor:
Van Braam Minnesma, Walmerville, NL
structural engineer
Constructiebureau Tentij, Heemskelke, NL
Technical advisor:
SDB Consult, Nijkerk/Basalt Bouwadvies, Nieuwegein/DAO, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Design-Implementation:
1999-2006
construction cost
€ 7.800.000,- (excluding VAT)
construction area
10,280 square meters
Construction cost/sqm:
€ 760,- / m2
photography
Arad van der Hoek
Baron G.A. Tyndall Square 213
NL-1019 TW Amsterdam
