Biesbosch ‘TwoTwoFive’

INTRODUCTION

From unappealing office location to pleasant living environment

In 2018, Foruminvest acquired an existing office building located at Biesbosch 225 in Amstelveen. The dated office building was located in the middle of a residential area and was half empty at the time. The houses on the opposite side of the street overlooked a rather desolate car park, which was especially annoying at night due to noisy groups of youths.

The residential development ‘TwoTwoFive’ has transformed this unappealing spot into a pleasant residential area. It is now a park-like environment with an active plinth consisting of housing, attractive entrances and a transparent bicycle shed. We deliberately chose to locate the parking in an underground car park, rather than create a visible car park at ground level. The (electric) shared cars that can be used by the residents and the people in the neighbourhood are located on the raised green ground level.

Situation in 2018

LOOK AND FEEL

Green an integral part of
the design

A green look and feel as a design motif is not confined to the ground level of the building, but is also clearly visible in the design of the building itself. As part of the building’s architecture, large planters have been incorporated in the design of the balconies. In consultation with specialists, a variety of plant species have been placed in these planters, taking into account the position of the balconies in relation to the sun. The variety plants have enhanced local biodiversity and give the façade its green character.

The greenery on the balconies is more present on the lower floors and makes a connection with the planting at ground level. The greenery gradually diminishes on the higher floors.

ENVIRONMENT

Attention for the surroundings

Every project is unique. For every project, we study the local built environment and urban structures in detail. The building is always part of the urban fabric. TwoTwoFive is located at the intersection of two neighbourhoods with different urban planning directions. The building itself is now once again part of an ensemble of buildings with an orthogonal structure. And the position (direction) of the building has been determined on this basis. The building also has a diagonal height relationship with the ibis hotel, which is diagonally across from TwoTwoFive. Together, the two buildings act as the entrance to Amstelveen.

“The building is always part
of the urban fabric”

DEVELOPMENT

Focus on sustainability

Sustainability is an integral part of every Foruminvest project. It has now become so standard that we almost forget that this is sometimes not seen as normal. It all starts with the location: TwoTwoFive is located next to a public transport hub that connects Amstelveen directly to the Zuidas business district, as well as lots of other places. Another essential choice was to connect the building to its own thermal energy storage system.

A water retention system has also been integrated into the green roof of the car park to prevent heat stress. This stores rainwater for the planting during dry periods, and acts as a water buffer during heavy rainfall.

The shared (electric) cars can be found on the green ground level, and the car park has its own electric charging stations, which will be easy to expand in the future.

The houses are equipped with a heat recovery system, with a separate recovery system for the showers (which reuses heat from shower water), CO2-driven ventilation, extra solar control glazing and insulation of walls and window frames that meets the most stringent requirements (Qv-10). The homes can even be enlarged in the future through openings in the load-bearing walls.