Lofts by the Amstel

Studioninedots designed an apartment building with a completely prefabricated white concrete facade with undulating balconies, Lofts by the Amstel river, in Amsterdam. Each of the building’s six private owners designed their ideal apartment, which occupies one entire floor.

Amstelkwartier is a new mixed-use residential/commercial district in Amsterdam Oost. This 12-hectare site is currently being developed with 1,100 dwellings and 30,000 sqm commercial space. Amstelkwartier released four plots of land to accommodate the increasing popularity for people to design their own homes in an urban context: the project is developed on plot C2, in a collaboration of the architects and a collective of owner-clients. 

Lofts by the Amstel’s prefabricated concrete structure enables a building width of 12.5 metres, with a glass facade that extends to the entire building width. The dwellings each occupy an entire floor of 160 sqm and have a different character from a family home to a completely open loft. The white volume rests on a dark grey basalt plinth that recalls the cladding of dike and canal walls in Amsterdam. On the front and rear facades the balconies’ organic forms echo the meandering lines of the canal-side park and represent the movement of water of the river Amstel.

The balcony dimensions are quite exceptional, being 2.5 metres deep and 12.5 metres wide. With double-height spaces sun and daylight reach deep into the apartments. Integrated in the floors of the front balconies, in line with the curves, are elongated concrete planters, which emphasise the sustainable character of the building. 

Lofts by the Amstel, Amstelkwartier, Amsterdam
Program: apartment building
Architects: Studioninedots, Albert Herder, Vincent van der Klei, Arie van der Neut, Metin van Zijl
Project team: Jurjen van der Horst, Coen Smit, Giovanni Lavanna
Contractor: Vink Bouw
Developer: OntwerpJeWoning
Construction: Bruil
Floor area: 1,150 sqm
Completion: 2016