(Source: Arcam)
Miles Building, Bedaux de Brouwer, 2011Living on the ZuidasThe Zuidas in Amsterdam is mainly known as a business district with many special high-rise buildings. Due to its ideal location in relation to Schiphol and the good connections with the rest of the city, the area also has an international character. The district is increasingly focusing on the arrival of new homes in order to create an urban area that is lively even after office hours. Gerswhin is the first sub-area of the Zuidas where the emphasis is on housing. Miles Building was completed on Gershwinplein in 2011: the first complete owner-occupied housing block on the Zuidas. The building houses 71 owner-occupied homes in four different types: apartments, town homes, water houses and penthouses. There is also variation in the floor plans within the types, resulting in 31 differently designed homes in the building. Stacked city villasMiles Building is a design by Bedaux de Brouwer Architects. In the design, they have strived for a stacked residential building with the characteristics and qualities of villa homes. This has taken shape, among other things, by giving each home an outdoor space in the form of a large balcony or terrace. The appearance of Miles Building is characterised by the anthracite-coloured stone, wooden details and aluminium-coloured accents. These materials give the building a high-quality appearance. The building consists of three linked volumes that together form a square with an open courtyard. The building has two faces, as it were: a bustling side and a modest side. On the busy side of the square, commercial functions are located in the double-height plinth. With twelve floors, this side also has the highest volume of the three connected parts and thus connects to the nearby surroundings. On the upper floors there are luxury apartments and penthouses. The L-shaped part, which is largely located on the Boelengracht, on the other hand, has a very modest and light character. This building section consists of only two storeys that rest on pillars as high as the plinth. Six maisonettes are housed here. The adjacent moat is connected to the courtyard by means of a pond. As a result, the L-shaped building section is partly above the water. The maisonettes are therefore also called 'water houses'. A lot of daylight reaches the houses through the glass façade over the two floors in combination with the south-facing location. Because the lowest building section faces southwest, the sun also reaches the balconies at the rear of the other two parts optimally. Like a kind of puzzle, the low L-shaped building section protrudes into the third eight-storey building section on George Gerswhinlaan. Despite the different characteristics, the three buildings form a beautiful continuous ensemble because of the puzzle-like transitions and the similar materials. Moss on the roof
Due to the different types of high-rise buildings on the Zuidas, you can look out on the roof of a nearby building more quickly. That is why the roof, as the fifth façade, is often an important part of the design. Miles Buidling has a green moss-sedum roof because of its aesthetic function. This roof cladding also has environmental benefits and, for example, rainwater is drained more gradually. The building also uses a cold-heat storage system. Data District: South
|