The residential tower at the Sloterplas is part of the renewal plan Meer en Oever by Kuiper Compagnons. The residential tower should be the accent of the neighborhood, the beacon. Because regulations prohibit the building from rising above its surroundings, the choice was made to emphasize not its height but its appearance. The image of a pure cylinder resting on a narrow substructure via an overhang construction is akin to the archetype of the water tower. The tower stands on a mound in which the parking spaces are hidden and is crowned with roof terraces surrounded by greenery.
The round shape has programmatic advantages. The organization of the floor plans is clear and flexible. There is a small core with stairs and elevators, around it a corridor zone that gives access to the apartments, then a zone with pipe ducts and a service zone, and around these spaces up to the facade only living space, which can be flexibly arranged. This allows the size and number of rooms of the apartments to be filled in per layer. This makes the total number of apartments in the tower variable.
An impossible task, thought Paul de Vroom (55) of architecture firm DKV. The designers had to erect a "landmark" on the Sloterplas, but it was not to exceed twelve stories plus a pedestal. "We started fantasizing. Then we thought: then we will literally make it the hub of the whole project." It had to be a round metal tower, and even then detached from the ground, so that the surrounding homes would retain the view of Sloterpark. "It became a compact concrete core, and to it we hung the floors with steel structures. That's very unusual, steel construction in residential construction. And it was of great importance that the building would be 'lifted'. If that didn't go through, it stopped for me."
The quality of the steel fabricator is then of great importance, said De Vroom. And a contractor from non-residential construction, VBK of Hoorn, was deliberately chosen. "Those people have much more experience with unusual solutions."
Ton Stam (47), VBK's project manager, does not contradict that. "We apply such a steel support structure more often in the construction of companies; that suits us. In Artis, for example, we applied it several times. Still, we did run into problems. If the floors could have been ten centimeters higher, it would have been a lot easier. This unusual construction did make the whole thing more expensive."
By the way, Nel de Boer (48) and Ton van Onna (53) are very pleased with the purchase price. They had to pay three tons for their quarter-round apartment of 135 square meters, plus another 30,000 euros for the closed parking space, half underground in the "mound" on which the tower stands.
For that money, they not only had a lot of space that they were allowed to arrange themselves, but also a majestic view; their entire house overlooks Sloterplas and Sloterpark. "We also went purely for form," says De Boer, "we didn't want a rectangular house at all. We didn't even go on vacation one summer just to be sure of a place in this building. There was a lot of interest." Van Onna: "We had lived in Osdorp for years, in a rented house. Many people who bought in the tower are from Osdorp."
The building has 54 apartments, varying in area and purchase price. It is beautiful, striking architecture, praises the jury that compiled the top ten. "Large, and very affordable by Amsterdam standards." And a great use of the view. Residents also filled out the same words of praise on their survey forms. Minus point; because of the many windows, it gets too hot quickly, while no shading is possible.
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