Mahler 4 is the first developed area within the Zuidas. The residential tower New Amsterdam stands right in the middle of it. A total of 194 apartments have been built in the tower. These are accessed by elevators from the entrance in the eight-meter-high plinth. Various shops and amenities are also located here. From the entrance, a wide staircase provides access to the spacious lobby on the first floor. Various facilities are connected to the lobby, some of which are exclusively accessible to residents, such as a swimming pool, fitness center, sauna, and a meeting center.
The tower, with a footprint of 28 by 60 meters, has 23 floors that can be laid out as desired thanks to a concrete column structure. Flexibility characterizes the tower: the 3.60-meter-high floor slabs can be freely partitioned. This offered an enormous variety of possible floor plans for the apartments. The tower accommodates thirty different housing types, ranging from small business suites for short stays to large penthouses.
The appearance of the tower is determined by an articulation of vertical strips of balconies and by the variation of high and low, narrow and wide openings. The silhouette of the building is striking due to the rounded shape of the penthouses.
The contrast is enormous between these two candidates for the New Construction Prize. On the one hand, a giant apartment on the Zuidas, contrasted with a dike house in Tuindorp Oostzaan. The jury that determined the nominations also struggled with the problem: how can you possibly compare such divergent housing types?
"It is very difficult to judge," sighed Natasja Keller, wandering through the apartment of just under three hundred square meters on the twentieth floor of the New Amsterdam residential tower on Gustav Mahlerlaan. "It is a plus that homes are also offered in Amsterdam for people who have a lot of money," Steven Delva felt. "That adds value to the city." That is why the five jury members nominated such an extravagant object.
It is also extraordinary that there is no question of a representative assessment by the residents. Up to the eighteenth floor, this tower contains 174 rental apartments, 101 of which are furnished with 24-hour service and a private entrance, for the (international) workers in all those office blocks at the Zuidas.
The serviced apartments cost 2,300 to 6,800 euros in rent per month; the standard ones 2,000 to 3,900 euros, and apartments with an office 3,700 to 6,600 euros. Ratings came only from the luxury owner-occupied apartments on the top eight residential floors, leading to a 9.3. "Nicely finished," the residents noted, "with an international look." "The new cityscape is exciting and un-Dutch." And then all the services in the building, plus the health club and swimming pool. Pero Puljiz and Branimir Medic, two Croats working at Architecten Cie., are responsible for the aesthetic. "We did a postgraduate program at the Berlage Institute and stayed here when the Balkan War broke out," explains Puljiz (47). "It had to be a simple building, yet glamorous. We wanted to add as many nuances as possible to indicate that it is, after all, a residential building. By European standards, this has become a high-level luxury building."
For the contractor, it was still a difficult job, says project director Mike Coffeng of G&S Bouw. "We specialize in non-residential construction. With residential properties, it involves many more smaller spaces and all kinds of special details. That requires a completely different logistics. But the result is a building with allure and a very high level of finish, and that is fun to build."
On the twentieth floor live Ronald (68) and Joyce (62) de Ruuk, who were looking for a spacious apartment instead of their home elsewhere in Zuid. “I didn’t want to live in a tower like that at first,” Joyce confesses. “But when we saw this space, we were immediately won over. All that light! This is un-Amsterdam, groundbreaking.”
"It is quiet on the weekend," Ronald admits. "And there are still few shops. But plenty of hospitality venues, it is definitely not boring. And the station and the express tram are nearby." The buyers do not talk about prices, they have agreed. Let's just say we are in the high-end segment here, which usually means: over a million.
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