At only a stone’s throw away from our office lies the site of project De Binnenbocht, which LEVS is designing for Amvest. Over the coming years, this area around the Entrepot-harbour will be transformed into an attractive mixture of new build and industrial history in which living, working, culture, and water come together. The project consists of three subprojects that create a total of 156 homes: De Bocht, with 124 apartments and 700 m² commercial space, De Loods, with 8 loft-homes, and the apartment-building 2Peer, with 24 homes . Through variation in shape, height, and architecture these buildings align the Cruquiusweg’s inside bend, and create an openness that directs to Entrepot-harbour’s waterfront.
The volume of De Bocht climbs stepwise from 7 to 15 storeys, making it one of the literal high-points of the Cruquius-island. The apartments and office spaces enclose a three-layer parking, on top of which is a courtyard. The white brick-walls and their wide panorama windows fit in with the new build on the Entrepot-harbour’s south side. Towards the Remepa-warehouse and the lower buildings, the volume steps down to 3 storeys.
The characteristic 1959 warehouse De Loods has been designated ‘preservation-worthy’. However, ground pollution makes preservation impossible. The warehouse will therefore be reconstructed entirely, and made to accommodate 8 loft-homes. Starting point for the design are the construction’s industrial feel, created amongst others by the visible steel skeleton.
Apartment-building 2Peer, in which young residents share homes, stands next to De Loods. The ground floor has been lifted to stand atop a semi-underground parking. The building is part of the new green heart of the Cruquius-area, and its soft curves will informally blend into the surrounding green. It answers to the multiple directions of developments in this area. The brick facade with its wooden elements connects the industrial tones of the inside bend with the new build of the outside bend.