Constantin Huygenstraat
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The project, which is located near Vondelpark, Amsterdam, is one of three new buildings that will occupy a site where formerly a large 1960’s hospital building was situated.
The masterplan, by Belgian architect Jo Crepain, was concerned with mitigating the effect of the original building by demanding that the site be occupied by three distinct buildings similar in scale and alignment.

The three buildings comprise social housing, privately owned housing, a psychiatric clinic and a third block, designed by the practice, which demonstrates a new typology in the Netherlands, a concept invented by Het Oosten called a ‘Solid’. This type of building is highly durable and intended to last many years; its function is mixed use and will accommodate a variety of spaces over time, including apartments, work spaces, a hotel, retail, cafes and restaurants.

The practice have extended the concept for the project by designing a variety of provocative spaces, all of which have no immediate defined use. These spaces appear throughout the scheme in the form of balconies, an inner courtyard extending from the street and open spaces on the upper level. Two roof pavilions on the upper floor deploy a larger beam and column form within which only a percentage is closed usable space. The external spaces are presented as open gardens, which look out onto a low-maintenance green roof, providing areas which offer intimacy and isolation within the city.

As in the Red House, a private town house in Chelsea completed by the practice in 2001, spaces are architecturally powerful yet non-specific, inviting a variety of uses. For Het Oosten the upper floor has been designed to accommodate either penthouse apartments, offices, a restaurant or kindergarten.


Current status: Construction due to commence Winter 2008 
Client: Het Oosten Housing Association and Het Oosten Kristal bv developers

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