Upgrading
housing estate De Boelelaan
Amsterdam
2001-2010
Renovation
of 273 dwellings, addition of 87 dwellings, renovation and expansion
with 11.700 m2 office space and expansion of the underground parking
with 5.400 m2
Commissioned by Housing Cooperation Rochdale, Amsterdam
The Netherlands is full of them. Long multi-storied housing blocks,
built at a fast pace in the Sixties and Seventies, to finally solve
the housing shortage, 25 years after the Second World War. Admittedly
functional and economical, but with little attention to urban context
and meaningful architecture.
Such is the case at the Boelelaan in the south of Amsterdam. After
40 years of service, the apartments drastisch need an upgrade. Renovation
is physically necessary to meet up to the current demand. Newly constructed penthouses on top compensate
the loss of homes below. Between both blocks space that for some reason
went unbuilt in 1965 finally gets its residential destination.
At street level, garages are moved from the front to the back and
the free-coming space is added to the offices above, creating a more
lively streetscape. New entrances and state-of-the-art elevators guarantee
that living here retains its essential qualities. Joining and enhancing
the current urban core south of Amsterdam called Zuid-as, a development
to watch.
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