Sign in to view
member only content

Spotted: A consortium of three businesses won the tender for the last high-rise lot available for development in the Overhoeks neighbourhood in Amsterdam. Xior Student Housing NV, Mecanoo architects and DubbeLL developers created the Brink Tower to connect the Van der Pek and Overhoeks neighbourhoods. A range of green building initiatives gives the design an energy performance certificate of less than zero.

The high-rise is 28 storeys high and includes retail and leisure spaces on the ground level, along with communal spaces for residents throughout the vertical structure. There are 30 homes for seniors, 120 social housing units and the rest of the living space is a mix of student and professional homes. Public gardens on and around the building help connect residents to their neighbourhood.

Rainwater collected across the various roofs irrigates the plants, and solar panels on the roofs, terraces and facades provide electricity. The team was commended for its use of brick, an unusual building material in that particular section of the city. Construction should begin in 2022, with the goal of completing as early as 2024 and no later than 2026.

Urban planning projects are increasingly ambitious with their use and reconfiguration of green and communal spaces. Springwise recently spotted another sustainable high-rise planned as a tourist destination in Amsterdam and a new, garden-filled neighbourhood combining housing, education and retail space for a city in Albania.

Written by: Keely Khoury

Explore more: Sustainability Innovations | Architecture & Design Innovations