KCAP

KCAP Design the OKU House, in Amsterdam

17.08.2021
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OKU House, designed by KCAP for real estate developer Boelens de Gruyter, is part of KCAP's urban plan for the area Koningin-Wilhelminaplein  in Amsterdam-West. It offers 324 rental apartments on top and next to the Fashion House. The overall urban plan creates 600 new homes in symbiosis with the existing modernist building ensemble. A publicly accessible landscape will connect the buildings themselves and to the surrounding neighbourhoods.

KCAP's urban plan for Koningin Wilhelminaplein is part of a densification plan for the Fashion District in Amsterdam West, the area above the A10 ring road and within walking distance of the Lelylaan station. Across three office complexes from the 1960s and ‘70s, Berghaus, The Fashion House, and Modrôme, five slender volumes will be placed as a 'district upon a district'. The residences, including publicly accessible areas and neighbourhood enhancing facilities, nearly triple the available space above ground level to approximately 90.000 m². Besides the urban plan, KCAP is responsible for the integral landscape design and the architectural design of the OKU House above and next to Fashion House; in a later phase also for the renovation of that building. Within KCAP's urban plan, MVSA Architects are involved in the renovation and expansion of Berghaus.

The facade design of OKU House enforces the idea of a building standing on its feet on the ground and with its head in the clouds. This image is supported by slender panels in warm, bronze-coloured aluminum, creating a grid that slowly opens towards the top. The plinth is porous and eases the accessibility to the mixed-use program hosted there. Balconies over the entire longitudinal façade allow the new residents to enjoy the view over the neighbourhood. The housing units on the north side are equipped with sound-isolating ventilation to guarantee acoustic comfort. Underground parking and bike parking on ground level complete the program of OKU House as part of a development already standing out as an essential upgrade for Amsterdam West: a densification with respect of the past and a connecting link to its surroundings that adds new homes and neighborhood qualities to the Fashion District.

Now, real estate developer Boelens de Gruyter has sold the 324 homes in OKU House to housing corporation Stadgenoot and pension investor Syntrus Achmea, on behalf of pension fund PME. 

The construction of OKU House will start this month.

Read more about OKU House

Client: Boelens de Gruyter Program: 324 rental appartements, of which 112 social rent and 212 medium and private sector rent, underground parking and bicycle storage; urban plan and landscape design Koningin Wilhelminaplein Noord

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