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Sciencepark Amsterdam: Building a vibrant community together.
The housing shortage in Amsterdam has been a major problem for years. Finding affordable housing is particularly difficult for students, starters, and status holders. To address the needs of these groups, VDL De Meeuw, commissioned by housing corporation Rochdale, developed 240 flexible homes in the Amsterdam Science Park.
A special place where residents work together to build an active community.
Innovation, social connection, studying, entrepreneurship, integration, building, and recreation all come together at the Amsterdam Science Park.
The design of the Spark Village complex was developed in collaboration with the Amsterdam-based architecture firm Kok Harleman and is fully tailored to the surroundings and the new resident groups: 80 students, 120 status holders, and 40 young people, all aged 18 to 27.
Suitable for single-person households
The complex, spread over two residential floors, consists of 240 sustainable homes suitable for single-person households. Each living unit is 24m² and comes with a PVC floor, finished walls, curtains, and its own kitchen and bathroom upon delivery. In line with sustainability goals, each unit is well insulated and all-electric with solar panels. Instead of an individual washing machine connection per unit, there is a shared laundry room for communal use.
“VDL De Meeuw impressed us positively in the tender process with their proposal. By thinking from the concept of circular construction, VDL De Meeuw was able to add extra quality to the living units and the housing concept.’’
Arnaud Lykles, Senior Project Manager at Rochdale.
Building an active community together
For housing corporation Rochdale, bringing together starters, students, and status holders was a deliberate choice. “Spark is a special place where residents work together to build an active community and where you can learn from one another and look out for each other,” says Pieter de Roest, program leader for housing status holders at Rochdale, on the corporation’s website.
From the outside, there is little difference between modular buildings and traditional structures. In fact, it is actually impossible to distinguish between the appearance of modular flexible housing and traditional real estate. More and more architects are approaching VDL De Meeuw about flexible housing developments. Flexible housing and traditional real estate have to comply with the same requirements. In other words, both comply with the Dutch Environment Buildings Decree (Bbl).
The modules that come together to form the final building are produced in a controlled environment. This ensures a safe working environment with a high level of control over quality and minimal impact on the production process due to weather. This in turn prevents delays and failure costs, and increases control over the overall project. Speed and quality go hand in hand here.
After production, the modules are transported to the site. Once on site, these modules are connected to each other, to the electricity grid, to the sewerage, and so on, and the interior is finished according to the specifications agreed upon. At that point, the building is then commissioned and modified in the future according to any changing requirements.
Brochure
Flexible housing, always the space you need
Download the brochure here.
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