Space Encounters Office for Architecture

VERTICAL Sloterdijk is a joint effort by Tenderboost, Heijmans, NL architects, Chris Collaris Architects, Studio Donna van Milligen Bielke, Space Encounters, De Dakdokters and DS Landschapsarchitecten. VERTICAL is a development of 20.000m2 of sustainable housing, public space, parking garages and shared roof gardens next to Sloterdijk station in Amsterdam West. This area of the city is being transformed from desolate office and business parks to a dense green urban district with liveliness around the clock.

VERTICAL is one of the pioneering projects of this transformation and introduces a variety of housing types in a ‘vertical garden’. Each architect worked out a different part of the development. Space Encounters was responsible for the design of two segments in the low-rise volumes. Both building parts play with volumes to create exciting outdoor spaces and optimal orientation for each separate house. One block is completely overgrown, giving plants and animals the opportunity to thrive. The other block is covered in sand blasted concrete, creating a different kind of ecosystem that more resembles a mountain, where bats, buzzards, insects and climbing plants will take their reside.