Simon 3 is situated on the site of a former parking garage in the Weteringbuurt. This neighborhood occupies part of the residual space between the canal belt and the former fortifications on the Singelgracht. The area is divided into narrow, elongated city blocks with narrow city streets running parallel to the Prinsengracht and Weteringschans. In the seventeenth century, Vingboons designed continuous blocks of houses here with a uniform facade layout that had a continuous straight roofline along the street. Initial uniformity was lost through later renovations. Instead, a richly varied and versatile streetscape has emerged, dominated by alternating buildings and featuring residences and small businesses.
Due to the very shallow building plot, averaging 22 meters, a single building volume was chosen for Simon 3, extending from the Lijnbaansgracht to Fokke Simonszstraat. The resulting deep, loft-like residences are often split-level and largely have a ceiling height of around four meters. All residences are oriented towards the Lijnbaansgracht, as this is the more attractive side due to its views and natural light. The residences are also accessed from the Lijnbaansgracht: the social rental housing is located on the ground floor and is directly accessible from the canal side; the larger owner-occupied homes on the upper floors are accessible via an entrance hall on the canal and a 'waterfall staircase' and are accessed via a corridor. The residences on the fourth floor feature gallery access.
The housing design takes into account the diverse wishes of users. For example, the living space can be located on two sides. Due to the large depth, this also creates flexible space in the middle. The conservatory, which serves as an outdoor space, is entirely integrated into the building, allowing it to be used as living space or even removed entirely.
Hardly known, on a quiet stretch of the Lijnbaansgracht canal, lies one of the city's most remarkable new construction projects. It's called Simon III, a block housing fifteen un-Dutch lofts. Even more remarkable: at the bottom of this distinctly luxurious building are four social housing units, facing the canal. Two are about ninety square meters for a monthly rent of 620 euros, and two slightly smaller ones for 530 euros per month. It was a messy area with some garages back then, when the municipality asked developer De Principaal to build homes there in 1997. But an initial design regrettably failed.
"It provided for many small homes on the Lijnbaansgracht and on the Fokke Simonszstraat behind it, with small gardens in between," explains Rob de Waal (55), project leader at De Principaal. "That turned out not to be attractive." Therefore, De Principaal, together with Köther and Salman Architects, opted for pretty much the opposite: fifteen large lofts spanning the full depth of 23 meters, ten of which have living rooms four meters high and five with roof terraces. "Our target group was clear: creative city dwellers," says De Waal, "not families. The rental homes downstairs have their front doors on the canal, and the owner-occupied apartments have their shared entrance next door."
A hundred-square-meter loft was supposed to cost 390,000 euros, while the one measuring one hundred and fifty meters sold for 525,000 euros. A parking space in the basement cost an additional 82,500 euros. Not insignificant amounts. Yet, another snag loomed when, in 2002, the Friends of the Amsterdam Inner City managed to delay construction for about two and a half years through objection procedures right up to the Council of State.
"It became precarious," says De Waal. "The selling price had already been set, while construction costs rose sharply in the meantime and the market also deteriorated significantly. But when the lofts went back on sale in 2005, they were all gone within two months."
The jury members who placed Simon III in the top ten can understand that well. "Goosebumps!" summarizes René Berbee's first impression.
"This look and finish are very rare," says Pablo Herrera. Angela Desmet is also impressed, but feels these types of homes are for a very specific target audience.
The residents are very happy with their home; they gave it a grade of 9-. “A beautiful, exciting layout,” they noted, “with lots of light and large windows. A beautiful building, fitting in nicely with its surroundings.”
"I feel at home here," summarizes Alexli van Linden Tol (54). She moved into her apartment in September last year, for which she had already registered five years prior. "At the time, I was living in the Nescio building on the Sarphatistraat, a beautifully restored property," she explains. "But I was temporarily renting there; I wanted to buy something."
"That meant a lot of detective work. I looked at many floors. But here I knew immediately: this is a space as I would like it: a loft, no doors, industrial."
"Isn't this beautiful? A living space 6.10 meters wide and four meters high, with floor-to-ceiling windows. And it was delivered pretty much as a shell. You could make any changes you wanted; supervisor Jan Schoo cooperated with everything. The fact that the buyer builds together with the client is also part of 2007."
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