Towerhouse
collaborative process together with the clients. By borrowing from the palette of its surroundings, this house is absorbed by the streetscape, allowing one to see it, and yet not to see it.
Rising over five floors the building’s interior twists and turns around a steep staircase, providing a variety of views in a number of directions: from the public life of the Brouwersgracht to the intimate interiors of the Willemsstraat. The fifth floor terrace frames further perspectives out over the rooftops of the city towards the IJ river. Each floor has a single designated activity: working, dining, living, sleeping and reading. Resulting tower-like proportions and spatial richness is accentuated precisely by the diagonal views which connect the house to the city.
Structurally this is a timber building, prefabricated in the workshop and delivered to site on trucks. It is simultaneously a modern sustainable structure combining light, locally sourced materials with efficient assembly techniques, all coordinated by a family-run contractor. The pre-oxidised zinc sheeting of both the roof and the facade merges with the warm brick colour of the street. Due to it’s chameleonic nature, the Towerhouse has managed to quietly slip
a contemporary, sustainable structure into one of Amsterdam’s most prized heritage areas, a gentle challenge to all the rules and preconceived ideas that may resist it.
Amsterdam, NL ‘15 - ‘20
architect Bureau LADA
team Lada Hršak, Erik Workel, Esther Mecredy, Juliette Gilson, Simone Spiga
client two men and a dog
builder Bouwbedrijf Leeflang
structure ABT
address Willemsstraat 2, Amsterdam
publications Dutch Architects Yearbook 2020, Architectural Record, Volkskrant, Het Parool
prize Architizer A+ Awards
photography Iwan Baan