Since 1885, the rope factory Touwen & Co. stood on the Touwenplein. In 1985 the factory was vacated and has remained empty since then. During the new construction plans, it became apparent that the ground was heavily contaminated and that extensive remediation work was required. This intervention made it possible to build a large basement floor.
The Touwenterrein now contains three small buildings on a parking garage with 42 parking spaces. Block A has four floors with 11 apartments. The top floor has no pitched roof, as the zoning plan required, but has two incisions that visually break the roof line. This allowed the available space to be utilized to the maximum extent, and the block appears to have a pitched roof.
Blok B has four floors with one house per floor. The roof and facade seamlessly blend together through color and design. The roof is equipped with brown aluminum fascias and skylights in the same color. The brown facade has aluminum window frames anodized in bronze.
Block C houses a commercial space of 600 m2. It has a ‘ridged’ facade and a moss-covered roof, which makes it resemble a shipyard but also somewhat reminiscent of a barn. To be able to create two floors within the prescribed five-meter height, the block was built up in a sunken design. The outdoor space around Block C has been designed as a collective garden.
That was no mean feat: building fifteen residential units, a business building, and a large parking garage on Realeneiland. Let’s just get that done, with those few narrow dead-end streets where you can only get through a single overpass. “Indeed, the logistical story was a big challenge,” says Eddy Bleuel (49), project manager at Coen Hagedoorn Bouw. “Everything had to be delivered on small trucks over those bridges or via water.” To be able to set up a crane, a separate bridge for the heavy components had to be laid down. And even that started to slide dangerously. Bleuel: “We had an contractor who spent a lot of time connecting with the neighborhood residents, and that was crucial. For the pouring of the parking garage floor, six hundred cubic meters of concrete had to be delivered non-stop. All the cars on the island had to be off the island for an entire day.”
In the past, the rope factory Touwen was located on this site. The municipality has reclaimed the land to a depth of five meters – that’s how deep the parking garage is. “No one wanted to risk their hands in such a difficult location, between all that historical architecture,” says Joris Stouten (31), a project developer for housing corporation De Key. “For many developers, it’s also not interesting because they can only build a few houses.”
The neighborhood strongly opposed the development of the site. “But we wanted to realize this project anyway. The Key already owns many homes on Realen and Bickerseiland. We would have built social housing here, but due to the redevelopment, that difficult location and the small number of homes, the project became so expensive that we couldn’t pull it off. Still, we are proud that we have added a piece of Amsterdam here, where others wouldn’t dare to do so.” Indeed, the homes aren’t cheap, but when you stand there, you understand how attractive they are. They were sold out quickly anyway, one building with four apartments on the water, and a block with eleven apartments in the Vierwindenstraat, with a gate to the courtyard. There is also a low-rise building with offices, with a wavy roof planted with sedum.
Maurice Boshuizen (26) and his girlfriend bought a ground floor apartment of 74 square meters for 425,000 euros. But they also got a large terrace by the water. They had to add another 70,000 euros for a parking space in the basement. And they weren’t even looking for a home in Amsterdam. But when they took a family boat for a ride along the still vacant Touwenterrein, they knew right away: that’s where we want to live!
Boshuizen: “When it became known that construction would be taking place, we immediately signed up. Initially, we were vying for second place for this house, but number one withdrew. We were just lucky. The location is so beautiful: right next to the city center and Haarlemmerstraat and yet a haven of peace. It’s so quiet in the evening that it’s almost as if you live outside the city.” The residents, who gave a 9.3 rating, did so because of the design: “The complex fits well into the streetscape of old warehouses.”
“It’s a beautiful balance between old and new in that area,” says Stouten as well. The design was drawn up by the NL Architects office, which will appear again in the top ten of the Amsterdam New Construction Award later on. After visiting the Touwenterrein, the jury was immediately convinced: such new construction, in this location, belongs in the top ten.
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