The Whale by de Architekten Cie

Borneo-Sporenburg, an old harbour area across the shores from the IJ near Amsterdam’s inner city is supposed to resemble in the density the Jordaan, an active Amsterdam inner city quarter. The designers, however, asked for a suburban programme in the town. It was granted around the condition the needed density of 100 houses per hectare could be accomplished. To do this urban concentration inside a suburban programme, Adriaan Geuze of West 8 introduced a brand new typology: inspired through the surrounding water, he produced a ocean of low-rise structures, given rhythm through the variation of blocks and open spaces. This rhythm recurs on the bigger scale within the tapestry of land and water characterizing the entire area. The ocean of low-rise structures is interrupted by three enormous ‘meteorites’, both to throw into relief the reduced-rise landscape and to offer the inner-city density. The interior city character is reflected in another way: the three.5 m high ground flooring from the low-rise structures produce a programmatic versatility that enables for living and dealing.

The Whale is among the three meteorites that mark the region. Inside the same footprint like a ‘Berlage block’ (50 x 100 m) in Amsterdam South, a programme two times as large continues to be recognized. By raising your building on two sides – the road from the roof akin to the movement from the sun – the low flooring receive sunlight arriving from underneath the actual building. Accordingly, light and space have free access in to the heart from the building. It makes sense a redefinition from the closed block: the interior area transforms the

typically private domain into a nearly public city garden.

The elegant, elevated form covers the enormous programme: 214 flats with busi-ness areas underneath as well as an subterranean carpark on the plot as huge as a football area. As a result of its remarkable design,

The Whale consistently offers different sights from the atmosphere from various positions producing simultaneously a massive diversity of housing types, within the upper and lower edges from the building particularly. Conservatories give a wide look at Amster-dam’s inner city and over the expansive waters from the river IJ.