The jury recognizes Spaarndammerhart as a biodiverse and socially attuned response to urban densification. Built on the grounds of a former primary school, the project inserts a new residential ensemble within an existing urban block, negotiating the pressures of compact city development without sacrificing spatial generosity or community potential. In its limited space it introduces a range of conditions, from a public courtyard, to collective gardens, to private terraces.
The outer gardens, while currently accessible only to the immediate residents, are constructed as spaces of latent openness. The need for shared decision-making—where any change requires mutual agreement—produces a political condition: the garden becomes at once resistant to arbitrary individual interventions and structurally open to collective reconfiguration. The outer path around the building appears as a comforting living environment and a generous playscape with lots of places to hide and be curious about who is around the corner.
– from the award statements
The apartment complex in the heart of Spaarndammerbuurt, with its nesting stones and native and wild gardens, is an ideal place for people, plants, and animals alike. The design began in 2016, when biodiversity decline and climate change were not yet a major concern in city planning. Today it serves as a strong, realised example of nature inclusive design.
The project team consists of two architecture offices, an artist and a landscape architecture office.
Participation
Spaarndammerhart was focused on creating a building complex within an existing building block by replacing a primary school building. We introduced the concept of a block within a block. The varied scale and size of the buildings provided an environment suitable for many different wildlife species. In the strip between the old and new buildings we created a zone of lush, mature trees by preserving, and where necessary, relocating the existing trees on the site.
Nature-inclusive design
Integrated into the building facades are nesting boxes for bats, common swifts, small birds and insects. Their positions correspond to the habitat preferences of each species: the bats are on the north facade, near the old trees, small birds on the east and north facade in the gardens, and the swifts high up on the west and north walls. The insect facilities are located on the sunny west facade.
Most of the vegetation consists of native or well-established species. The inner courtyard, the warmest place in the complex, is full of herbs and insect-attracting plants for species such as bumblebees, wild bees and butterflies. Climbing plants will eventually cover the building walls, helping cool the surrounding space. The cooler outer garden lies in the shade of the mature trees and is planted with shade-loving species. The sunny, flowering garden with communal tables and chairs is located on the west side. The roofs serve as rainwater buffers, offer space for solar panels, and even support roof vegetation.
The terraces in the outer garden are the only truly private spaces within the otherwise communal gardens. Shared responsibility among residents helps maintain biodiversity: every change in layout or planting must be discussed collectively to avoid drastic shifts.
The courtyard is a successful public place surrounded by social housing, middle and private sector apartments. The neighbours come to collect kitchen herbs and interact with one another. Many aspects of the design aim to foster future social interaction in the neighbourhood. A path winds through many blocks in the neighbourhood, passing through a series of gates and archways. Two new iconic gates were designed for this project. However, the neighbourhood preferred not to open the path to the public and chose to keep their gate locked. Though it can still be opened in the future.
The garden, originally intended to be shared with residents of the surrounding buildings, was also not embraced as hoped. As a result, it is currently shared only by the residents of Spaarndammerhart. Still, we believe that in time it can be opened up as originally envisioned, since inclusivity and sharing remains at the heart of this design.
• All architecture offices involved in the design:
KorthTielens architecten
Marcel Lok architect
Martijn Sandberg artist
• Other credits:
Heijmans bv – developer and builder
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