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Overall, the study area, the strip along the railway, can accommodate 61% additional dwellings. In fact, the block can be densified by 69%, yielding 33 additional dwellings and 1,140 m2 of additional living space. This can be done without the loss of living enjoyment for current residents, by creating communal roof gardens, accessed via the new lift and current stairwells, which will be extended to this level. This facilitates the liveliness of the original Haarlemmer Houttuinen and provides a protected, green space in the middle of the city.
Setting the Location Sandwiched between two very busy city-streets and the railroad track running above, this concrete ‘80-ies manifesto holds a lush oasis in the courtyard, giving the tenants, and its visitors, a peaceful escape from daily life. This former working-class neighbourhood, that once was a storage “garden” for timber, when the famous Amsterdam Canals where built, can become a new storage for timber and carbon on top of the existing buildings. Thanks to the firm structure, the existing staircases and the inner courtyard, these buildings are perfect to hold the new future of the “Haarlemmer Houttuinen”.
Completing the warehouse structure and adding a wooden, bio-based superstructure, with communal courtyards and quiet dwellings accessible by lift, will create a new living environment for the Amsterdammer, with the qualities of Houttuinen improved for residents.
On the edge of Amsterdam's city centre, there is great potential for several new layers of housing on top of existing buildings. As shielding from the noise of the railway and finishing off the, now austere, architecture, doing justice to the historical context and creating townhouses with views over Amsterdam, a lot of value is added here. Extending the existing stairwells to the new communal courtyards where the entrances to the dwellings are and adding a lift, which opens up all the new dwellings (and a few old ones) via a gallery, creates a new oasis for all residents, where people can meet.
