Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Architect: Powerhouse Company.

Amstel Tower is a mixed-use complex located next to the Amsterdam Amstel Station, comprising a 24-story residential tower, mid-rise podium for an international hotel, and landscaped ground level with retail and parking. The tower is part of a major infrastructure upgrade to transform the area into an exciting new district. The design solution was to create a soft, elegant building that addresses the complexities of introducing a dynamic new public space and a residential function on the site. The tower and wide podium each have a different urban character, with the tower appearing slender when viewed from the historic city centre and the podium engaging with the immediate small-scale surroundings and activating a new public square. The design of the tower takes inspiration from the rounded canopy of the 1930s Amstel Station, reinterpreted as full-perimeter overhangs across the podium and on each level of the tower. This creates visual coherence and provides outdoor space, sun shading, and noise protection for the apartments. The rounded corners and asymmetrical shape limit overshadowing onto the neighbourhood and create an inviting, streamlined profile that perfectly complements its riverside surroundings. Amstel Tower’s design not only seeks to create architectural and urban connections but also stimulates greater social cohesion by providing affordable, high-quality living spaces for young professionals. By using the programmatic challenges and opportunities in a smart and innovative way, the building is able to add quality and liveliness to the city in numerous ways.

Photo credit: Egbert de Boer, Ossip van Duivenbode, Jeroen Musch and Christian Richters.