MIXED-USE BUILDING

AMSTERDAM, 1999

Maxwan joined this competition (launched by the City of Amsterdam) in a team with developers Het Oosten and Matser. The mixed use commercial building 'Houthavens', is situated at the river Y, halfway between Amsterdam Central Station and the A10 ring road. The location and size of the site led us to propose a doubling of the competition program. The resulting intensive land use is made possible through the use of the roof space for car access and parking.
The 75'000 m2 building is designed to be flexible in use and is made up of a module of deep working spaces and showrooms at ground level, shallow commercial and office floors on higher levels, and an accessible roof at +6.0m, useable by cars and pedestrians. The variation of the module in length, height and orientation results in an exciting landscape with interior yards, sculptural head buildings and an access square that connects the street and roof levels. Every 40 meters, different building segments are separated by an entrance hall dressed and designed by a selected group of artists and ecologists.