Newly built apartments The George | Zuidas, Amsterdam

The briefing was clearly formulated, says Van der Pol. There was a strict building line, the preconditions for the homes for sale and the building as a whole were clearly described. Dok architects participated in the closed tender for the contract. ‘You’re looking for the right atmosphere for the building and at the same time creating the impressions and floor plans requested. The building already becomes like a dancing figure, using coloured pencils to add beautiful colours.’

The south facade at the side of Boelegracht is glass, with a cascade of terraces and plenty of green, a concept developed in partnership with BOOM Landscape. Brickwork was prescribed for the north facade and side walls. Van der Pol: ‘When designing these facades, we stuck to the first sketch: as a piece of haute couture, the facade was cut out and fitted with an open top and fluttering edges at the bottom. The colours of the sketch were translated into a full-size digital model, in which we divided the colours into pixels two bricks wide and five layers high, in half-brickwork. With five different colours of glazed brick and five different mortar colours, the pattern for the entire facade has been filled in down to the stone – or pixel. ‘This is a north-facing facade, which is the reason why we wanted glazed bricks, due to the way they shine and reflect light.’

The south facade at the side of Boelegracht is glass, with a cascade of terraces and plenty of green, a concept developed in partnership with BOOM Landscape. Brickwork was prescribed for the north facade and side walls. Van der Pol: ‘When designing these facades, we stuck to the first sketch: as a piece of haute couture, the facade was cut out and fitted with an open top and fluttering edges at the bottom.

The colours of the sketch were translated into a full-size digital model, in which we divided the colours into pixels two bricks wide and five layers high, in half-brickwork. With five different colours of glazed brick and five different mortar colours, the pattern for the entire facade has been filled in down to the stone – or pixel. ‘This is a north-facing facade, which is the reason why we wanted glazed bricks, due to the way they shine and reflect light.’

Power of the first sketch

‘The colourful first sketch gives the building character and we wanted to keep that in the building blocks’, says the architect. The quest for the right colours and details then began. ‘That was an endless process, that we tacked together with the construction team. We chose the colours for new panels with combinations that we then studied here, at Kraanspoor where Dok architect is based. In a vertical position, in the right orientation: really important when you’re judging glazed bricks!”

The first selections were made with the Wienerberger colour range, but the models with specific colours soon arrived from the factory in Panningen. ‘We looked at and tested a lot here at the office. When we were almost ready, contractor BAM made sample walls on site. After the final decision for colours was made, the work drawings were created.’ The pixels were not only given different colours but a relief was also incorporated using slightly protruding bricks. These relief bricks are also glazed around the edges, which makes the number of variables in the brickwork even greater.

Haute couture

The project has many invisible technical gadgets, such as a power plant (with solar panels), water collection on the roof and a water supply system for the planters on the terraces. The residents will get a green framework around their view onto Boelegracht.

The brick skirt flutters upwards slightly on the ground floor.  ‘We already drew that “fluttering” skirt in the first sketch.’ In the design, we continued sketching so that we could investigate how this corner functions’, says Van der Pol.  ‘The building literally comes off the ground there, as you’re creating an open corner. That effect is really important and we fought hard for it’, smiles the architect. ‘For us it is vital that the inside and outside are connected. That the residents are aware of the character of the building. It will be a building with its own signature. With brickwork like a summer dress; really sunny. That was the idea behind the first sketch and it is exactly what we are going to build. It makes you happy!’