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Block 0 - IJ4you

Client
Building4you Developments
Architect
Marcel Lok Architect
Project architect
Marcel Lok
Contractor
Vink Construction
City of
West
New construction site
Houthaven
Number of dwellings
32

Block 0 – IJ4you: nominated for the Amsterdam New-Build Prize 2016

IJ4you covers plots 8 and 9 of Block 0 and forms the southwestern termination of this 'superblock'. The complex consists of two nine-story apartment buildings on Haparandaweg and three four- to five-story buildings with ground-access quay houses on the (future) Houthavenkade. The buildings enclose a semi-sunken, double-level parking garage with a collective roof garden on top.

Due to the vastness and openness of the location on the IJ and the industrial character of the port area, a robust facade materialization and no-nonsense detailing were chosen. The corner block is designed with an industrial extruded brick in a pronounced masonry grid. The adjacent middle block is finished in muschelkalk natural stone with projecting horizontal bands. On the city side, floor-to-ceiling aluminum sliding doors and balconies with toughened glass balustrades offer optimal views of the city and the IJ. The quayside homes feature a private roof terrace and are oriented maximally toward the street on the ground floor by means of floor-to-ceiling folding doors. The roof garden features a variety of shrubs and flowering trees (Prunus dulcis). This communal courtyard is accessible from the adjacent homes and reachable from the Houthavenkade via a wide staircase. The courtyard establishes a connection with the green inner courtyards of the monumental building blocks in the adjacent Spaarndammerbuurt.