The master plan for Overhoeks by Geurst & Schulze architects features a high degree of architectural articulation. The first few months of the design process were spent by the architectural firms jointly searching for the individual interpretation of the plan. In the design for De Europa, the architects adhered exactly to the prescribed zoning and sought individual expression in material use and architectural detailing. The block’s facade, as well as the balcony and floor edges, is clad in white natural stone from Greece. The main volume is therefore well readable, while the recesses of the balconies and loggias provide for the characteristic plasticity.
The building has a terrace-like structure from the fifth floor. Much attention has been paid to the design of the roof, the ‘fifth facade’. Terraces and roof gardens are located on the flat roof, creating a roofscape. The structure of the facades is calm and varied with generous windows. Europa has 79 rental and resale homes in the luxury sector. The open facade allows residents to enjoy plenty of daylight and views of the water. On the ground floor there is a fitness club and a sauna.
Since the opening of the Eye film museum and the first forms of the Tolhuistuin, the new residential area of Overhoeks has also become a lot closer. Last year, the residential block De Prinsendam joined the Amsterdam New Building Prize (and came in eighth place), this time it’s De Europa’s turn.
Directly on the IJ Promenade, a seven-story building clad in white marble shines, a design by the Portuguese Alvaro Siza (creator of a rejected design for the new Stedelijk Museum) and HMADP Architects.
The new development on Overhoeks was explicitly intended to entice people who wanted to live in the Amsterdam city center and could afford it, to cross the IJ and settle in Noord. The appearance had to be overwhelmingly lush, and neither the execution nor the furnishings were to be skimp on.
It was a risky venture, but it can still be called a success – despite the crisis. Vesteda, a partner in the Overhoeks Development Consortium with housing corporation Ymere, initially struggled to rent out the luxury apartments, but by selling some of those apartments, De Europa was nevertheless well-filled.
“It was a bumpy ride,” admits Onno Breur (61), director of the management company of Vesteda. “This project had a long preparation period and now it is difficult to market it. But we are thinking and building for the long term.”
“We would love to develop rental housing in Amsterdam,” explains Breur, “but it’s hard to find good locations. This opportunity arose here, even though it was a bit of a pioneering effort. Amsterdam-Noord was never the place where people with a lot of disposable income went. We want timeless quality, and that costs money. As an investor, you must never make the mistake of skimping on quality.”
The five jury members who selected the ten nominees – themselves residents of new construction elsewhere in the city – were unanimous in their admiration. “This has an international appeal,” says Anton de Beij (33). “A tremendous asset for the city,” judges Ineke Genee (44).
“Indeed,” says Jaco Plompen, deputy director of builder Dura Vermeer, “This is not what you build in the ordinary way. A building that looks like this, finished with beautiful materials, and then so close to the city center, deserves a prize.”
The residents also think this way; they gave De Europa an 8.5 as a rating. They mention the space, the view, the light, the large windows and the architecture as positive points. Where there are complaints, they mainly relate to the poorly designed kitchen.
Jakop Maarschalk (60) and Hans Eksteen (62) had worked in South Africa for five years and wanted to, at any rate, live in Amsterdam again after returning. Maarschalk: “We had known for a while that this would be built here and this building was one of the reasons why we wanted to return to Amsterdam.”
Eksteen: “The location is great. It was also very important that the architect thought that people who live by the water should also be able to see the water well.”
Marshal: “And it’s of course very special: a white marble building in Amsterdam. It’s very carefully designed, modern and classic. Timeless and Mediterranean.”
Marshal and Eksteen live in a two-story penthouse, totaling over two hundred square meters, plus a hundred square meters of roof terrace. It is indeed luxurious. The rent is around 2,500 euros per month, and that does not include the parking space in the garage or the service charges.
To give a good comparison: a 94-square-meter apartment in De Europa cost 468,000 euros, including a 50-year lease and a parking space in the garage.
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