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Stationsgebied Amsterdam-Noord is in full development. At its heart is Kavel Z1, the gas-free building with 288 social housing units that was completed in 2022. A striking building that came about in a special way. Kavel Z1 was developed by CZAN, the combination of Blauwhoed and area developer AM. CZAN engaged Groosman architects, Groosman Constructie, Hiensch and Buro Bouwfysica for the design. Housing corporation De Alliantie purchased the building from the development consortium, with Van Wijnen handling the construction.
Lot Z1 is in a busy, lively area. For example, the access road to the Ring Road runs here. (Construction traffic comes and goes. Public transport hub Amsterdam-Noord Station is nearby; by public transport you are in the city center within five minutes. "A complex location for a residential building, because you are sandwiched by noise on all sides here," says Gert de Graaf, architect-partner of Groosman Architects in Rotterdam.
The framework for the architectural design was formulated in Sjoerd Soeters' urban plan. "This provided for a 70-meter-high tower. Its location had already been determined in the zoning plan. The tower thus determined the structure of the entire building. Furthermore, a plinth and 8 or 9 residential floors were assumed."
"288 homes is quite a substantial task," Gert continues. "We therefore first looked at how we could divide them into small-scale units within the urban design framework, in order to make the building more manageable." That small scale was achieved by means of a paneled facade with a construction-free zone along it." The materialization resulted in a varied facade appearance. "For example, special brickwork and variety in the horizontal and vertical structure were chosen. One of the properties even has a facade of natural stone."
The architectural design focuses on people. "Man is a social being; as an architect you take that into account. In this regard, the larger the residential community, the more difficult relationships form. The small scale of the paneled facade is conducive to social cohesion. The same goes for the collective garden and the places for gathering created in the building."
The urban design plan also provided for a lively plinth with functions complementary to the residential program. "In the plinth a communal space with workstations for working from home has been realized. In this way you attract people out of their homes and promote meetings between residents on the one hand and also contact with the street on the other.
Housing corporation De Alliantie has also set up an office here." The filling of the plinth fits the integral approach Groosman Architects stands for: "It is not only about housing sec, but also about the urban planning implementation and activating and optimizing the interaction with the neighborhood."
It has already been said: Lot Z1 is in an urban environment with a lot of noise. "To meet the requirements of the Noise Pollution Act, we had to achieve noise reduction on the facade. In order to be able to ventilate and/or ventilate, it is then often decided to seal off the exterior spaces with a deaf façade. However, we did not want to put the residents away behind glass. Therefore, we chose a special solution: a soundproof ventilation facility. "The homes have open balconies where residents can experience the surroundings and enjoy the view. When residents are inside, they experience no noise pollution. "We wanted to provide the same quality that a home in a less crowded environment has." A future-oriented consideration also played into the choice of the ventilation system. "In the future, when we use mobility differently, the ambient noise will decrease," he says. Residents will then enjoy their balconies even more.
Client De Alliantie chose to use plastic window frames. "First of all, because plastic is low maintenance. Also, plastic window frames fit well with the idea of traditional construction that was translated into the pawn structure. In addition, plastic window frames are universal in that they can be made in the form of wooden window frames and the color options are becoming increasingly diverse. They also met the requirements in terms of noise reduction. We could do well with them."
The frame profile system VEKA Softline 82 NL RETRO from WN Frames & Prefab Walls was used in the project, with white RAL 9016 smooth on the inside and Jet Black RAL 9005 on the outside.
The quality of the collaboration was tested when the licensing authority under the Local Railways Act imposed tougher requirements for construction. "According to Groosman's design, it was possible to build on the first foundation," Ivan said.
"Our own construction company had calculated that this was possible," Gert adds. "However, the licensing authority stated that piles of 60 meters would have to be driven into the ground up to the third layer of sand. This would make the work financially unfeasible," Ivan says. "New calculations were made. Consultation between the architect, Groosman construction and an expert soil mechanic brought results."
"It revolved around the settlement difference between high-rise and low-rise buildings," Gert explains. "That had to do with the weak soil. To accommodate the permit authority, a weighted foundation, with many piles underneath, was designed. This allowed the pressure of the tower to be better distributed on the first foundation."
Getting the new solution accepted still required a great deal of persuasion from the project leader. Crucial, however, was the constructive attitude of all involved, Ivan explains. "De Alliantie - which had joined the project when the original client, housing corporation Eigen Haard, had dropped out - was confident that the permit would come through and dared to take on the development. Then, after the permit was granted, De Alliantie did demand that the floor plans - still based on specifications from Eigen Haard - be adjusted. And that adjustment in turn would not have been possible if the licensing authority, municipality and architect had not cooperated."
The turnaround from "not feasible" to "still feasible" was made in the period from July 2019 to March 2020. "A steam cooking session," Ivan calls it. Then came the corona period. "On the day the intelligent lockdown kicked in, the first pile was struck. We had 30 months but built it in 28 months."
Gert: "The project was created integrally by the entire team. This is the way we want to work: sitting down with all disciplines from the beginning. I am super proud that we got this project done on this complex site." "A textbook example of building together," Ivan concludes. "Usually in a project there is always an obstructionist. But here all noses were in the same direction. I had never experienced that before!"
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