As part of the renewal of the Indische buurt, the district council decided in 2007 to demolish the Borneoblok on Javaplein—which consisted of approximately 150 small, outdated apartments and was in a reasonable structural condition—and replace it with new construction. By changing the volume of the new building block, a new urban square had to be created as the new heart of the Indische buurt.
The new Borneohof contains 67 owner-occupied and rental homes, including four wheelchair-accessible homes, grouped around, oriented toward, and accessed by a green courtyard. Due to the design of this collective space, however, this courtyard is spatially experienced as three distinct courtyards. This creates an intimate atmosphere that makes it an attractive meeting place for the residents. The inner courtyard is accessible through four tall gates that create sightlines between the street and the courtyard. In two of these gates, Piet Hein Eek has created a work of art featuring doors made of salvaged wood.
The design of De Borneohof largely blends in with the surrounding architecture. The square building with its arcade and tower deviates from this. It serves as a landmark in the neighborhood and houses, behind the arcade in the ground floor, socially and culturally important facilities for the area: the library, a grand café, and a fitness center. By placing an underground parking garage beneath the new development, the adjacent streets and the square could be made largely car-free.
A remarkable achievement: architects Peter Geusebroek and Svetla Stefanova are in the top ten of the Amsterdam New-Build Prize for the sixth time. That says a lot about the quality of their designs, and about the appreciation they receive for this from the residents and all the voters.
They won the first New Construction Award for the residential building De Monnik, right in the middle of the Red Light District. “It’s about knowing well who you are building for,” project architect Peter Geusebroek (70) explains as the reason for his success. “You have to adapt your work to the surroundings, taking the context into incredible account. It’s not just about aesthetic beauty, but also about the nature and character of the environment.”
The Borneohof is an extensive new-build block that seamlessly matches the nature and character of the Indische Buurt. "This is an asset to the neighborhood," judges Ineke Genee (44), one of the five jury members who selected the ten nominees. Her colleague Judith Dekker (45) particularly likes the diversity: a variety of owner-occupied, private rental, and social housing, all with different apartments.
And what's more, with specially decorated entrance halls, where designer Piet-Hein Eek has filled a wall with a mosaic of doors from the demolished homes that previously stood here.
The residents share their appreciation for their building, giving it an average rating of 8.4. They particularly praise the "stunning architecture" and "the design that blends in nicely with the surroundings." Most also mention the special inner courtyard. As a negative point, the lack of storage rooms and bicycle parking is brought up multiple times.
Seriana van den Berg (36) and Gijs Barends (35) bought a ninety-square-meter apartment for three hundred thousand euros, including bought-off leasehold; a garage space cost an extra thirty thousand euros. “We were living in a rental apartment in the Eastern Docklands, so we already knew this neighborhood,” Van den Berg says. “We really like it here, partly because of the nice mix of people and that quiet inner courtyard. And not to forget: I was born on Borneo.”
"It is a fantastically beautiful building," Barends adds, "and finished to a very high standard. But above all, it is important that it helps to further uplift the neighborhood. All groups from the district intersect on this square, and this building contributes to that."
Director Lukas Deurwaarder of the construction company of the same name is also very proud of De Borneohof. "It is a large building with a lot of challenging masonry, but fortunately we are a large masonry company, so we can handle that." His company had previously been hired for new construction projects by housing association De Alliantie.
Furthermore, Deurwaarder is accustomed to difficult inner-city projects, and this was a prime example: a large excavation pit had to be dug for a two-level underground parking garage in a densely built-up environment alongside which a tram line also runs. "It was a tour de force, not a straightforward modern block."
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