On the eastern edge of Amsterdam's city center lies the Valkenburgerstraat; a major thoroughfare that was created in the 1960s, the eastern half of which saw the buildings that align it completely demolished and rebuilt during the 1990s. The street's western edge has retained its historic buildings, all of which are from different decades of the last century–the Double is the newest addition to it. The building is composed of two volumes, which together contain 45 units separated by an exterior communal courtyard garden on the roof of the ground floor. Most units have direct access to this communal area, and the units that abut it carve their terraces from it. The front volume–which is six stories high–faces the street, while that of the rear–which is five stories high–overlooks a little trafficked canal. Nearly all units are outfit with polyurethane floors. Access to the core of both volumes, as well as to the garden, is possible from the submerged parking garage, which has 45 spaces. The façades of both volumes are finished with textured glass shingles that create the illusion the project is clad in stone tiles; due to the larger scale of these glass shingles, the scale of the building appears larger than those it surrounds, most of which are composed of brick. The front façade is of two slightly varying shades of gray, so that the rhythm of the street's movement is retained. The foreside of the these glass shingles contains a relief, and a colored coating on their backs; the former introduces color to the façade–without the need to be repainted in the future–while the latter provides subtle texture onto which charlatan like dances of light and shadow can play.

Location
Valkenburgerstraat 130-136
Amsterdam 1011 NC 
the Netherlands

Typology
Housing

Size
9.700 m2

Courtyard garden
400 m2

Date of design
2008-2010

Date of completion
2015

Project team
Wiel Arets, Harold Hermans, Dennis Villanueva, Rob Willemse, Joris van den Hoogen, Maron Vondeling

Collaborators
Joost Körver

Client
US CV-1 BV 

Consultants 
Van Rossum Raaggevende Ingenieurs BV, Hillen & Roosen, Crux Engineering BV, Wetering Raadgevende Ingenieurs BV