The Lootsbuurt in Amsterdam is a 19th-century working-class neighborhood in the Oud-West district. The project concerns two locations on Jacob van Lennepstraat: one on the corner with Lootsstraat and one on the street itself. The two infill buildings blend in with the existing development. The location on the corner is now complete, the other location will follow at the end of 2006.
The corner block contains twenty social housing units, of which four are wheelchair accessible and five are intended for supported living. There are two floors of maisonettes with a floor of apartments in between. The corner of the block is open, creating a connection between the street and the enclosed courtyard. On the garden side, the homes are accessed via a "living gallery"; the double-height outdoor spaces give the building light and air here.
The block connects to the surrounding buildings on the one hand by using the characteristics of nineteenth-century window divisions and detailing. On the other hand, it claims its own place by subtly deviating from these. It is a contemporary integration that respects its environment.
Indeed, among the top ten new housing complexes that have been reviewed in recent weeks, many feature owner-occupied homes – sometimes even explicitly luxurious ones. But social housing can also score highly, as it turns out today.
Twenty social housing units have been accommodated in the De Batavier apartment block on the corner of Jacob van Lennepstraat and Lootsstraat in Oud-West. And the score of 8.7 shows that the residents are particularly satisfied with the result.
Developer De Alliantie and architects Albert Herder and Tom Jonker of the HVDN firm have therefore done everything they could to make this residential complex something special. Few in Amsterdam will have such a unique work of art on their facade. A meter-high bookcase has been built into the brickwork, filled with ceramic books – a tribute to the writers after whom the streets in this neighborhood are named. The design by Amsterdam artist Sanja Medic was executed by Amsterdam ceramicist Pieter Kemink.
Dirk Kuus (47), project manager at De Alliantie, is extremely proud of this building. "It's not just exclusively social housing, it's also special social housing. Of the twenty homes, four are for people with disabilities and five are for assisted living from care institution Cordaan."
The wheelchair-accessible apartments are 100 square meters and rent for 440 euros per month, while Cordaan's apartments, at 55 square meters, cost 346 euros. The other apartments, over 80 square meters, have rents ranging from 530 to 540 euros. This location once had small rental homes, owned by private individuals and in poor condition due to a lack of maintenance. The municipality transferred them to housing corporations, who were required to renovate them so they could last until 2000.
"But then they turned out to be structurally so poor that they had to be demolished," according to Kuus. The new construction of a block that turns the corner turned out not to be so simple. "The designer decided to cut it open at the corner so that light could fall into the interior space. There is only a gallery on the second and fourth floors, which has kept the back of the building light and airy."
The jury that placed De Batavier in the top ten was not yet convinced when they saw the exterior facade, but they were immediately won over once inside. "I am surprised by the quality and the detailing," judged Pablo Herrera. De Batavier is primarily intended for people who really wanted to continue living in this neighborhood. They were asked to help drive the first pile. Ina Hartman (58) remembers it well. "I lived in the Borgerstraat, right behind here, and in the Wilhelminastraat," she says in her adapted assisted living home. "I know this neighborhood very well."
"When I was here for that first pile, I immediately said: I want to live here. And it came true too!"
Only the heavy steel gate that seals off the inner area from the street causes complaints. Because of its enormous weight, the electric drive requires very precise adjustment. This sometimes causes a malfunction, allowing unwanted visitors into the private area. Kuus says that De Alliantie is working on a solution.
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