Amstelwood

Amstelveen will soon have its first timber hybrid residential tower. The existing Esso gas station and the former car park on Ouderkerkerlaan will make way for Amstelwood: a nature-inclusive and climate-adaptive residential tower. The building marks the entrance to the Keizer Karelpark residential area and is visible from the A9 highway. Amstelwood will be a beacon for the Municipality of Amstelveen. With Amstelwood, Team V contributes to a timber transition in architecture. After HAUT, Neuron and Mediavaert, this is Team V’s fourth timber hybrid building to be built.

Stepped plinth

Amstelwood consists of a three-layer plinth with a square residential tower of sixteen floors – 131 apartment – on top. The plinth rises gradually on the east, west and south sides, which ensures a gradual transition from the adjacent low-rise district. A double-height main entrance to the homes and a commercial space on Ouderkerklaan provide an active, vibrant appearance on the street side. The indoor parking garage is partly sunk into the green landscape.

Slender grid

The facade design is characterized by a slender grid of steel profiles, which surround the timber building like a veil. The grid starts denser on the lower layers and opens up more and more towards the top of the tower. A gradation in depth and density visually divides the building volume into three parts, continuing the terraced plinth in the tower. Behind the grid, in the second line, is the thermal facade finished with timber. The balconies and loggias are located between the facade and the grid, with the depth of the space in between tailored to sunlight, noise levels and the urban development situation.

Nature inclusive living

Under the motto “timber where possible, concrete and steel where necessary”, innovative timber construction has been combined with traditional construction methods. The supporting structure consists of timber columns of laminated timber (Glulam), a timber ribbed floor on steel beams and a concrete core with stairs and elevators. The timber columns remain visible in the apartments, which enhances the nature inclusive living experience. The outer facades of the tower and the bottom of the balconies are clad in timber. The plinth roofs are designed as roof gardens with trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses. Climbing plants grow from the ground and from the green roofs against the plinths and up through the grid of the tower. In Amstelwood you literally live in the green.