Transformation Kolenkitbuurt
The city quarter Kolenkitbuurt forms the connection between the New West and city centre of Amsterdam. Going by the slogan “urbanity in tranquility”, the neighbourhood is changing into a highly urban area, in which focus has been on creating a differentiated and child friendly environment. The former plots of row housing are replaced by two compact building blocks on both sides of a square. The square serves as a schoolyard for elementary school Bos en Lommer. This school is part of the Brede School Campus Kolenkitbuurt, of which different sections are placed in various buildings. On top of the elementary school a courtyard with 36 apartment dwellings is situated.
Compact building block
The program of the elementary school is divided over two storeys; the ground floor and second floor. The school encloses a recessed playroom/auditorium and a storage block for the dwellings on the 3d and 4th floor.
On top of the lower storage boxes, the gymnasium – that has a net hight of 5,5 meter – is situated. The storage block, auditorium and gymnasium in the core of the building are sound dilated from the surrounding classrooms: a flexible system of group spaces, connected by a clear circulation, being a surrounding corridor.
The gymnasium, which can also be used outside of school hours, has its own entrance on Bos en Lommerweg, next to the main entrance of the apartments. In the pedestrian side streets the two remarkable, two-storey high entrances to the school are situated, at the location of the indentation of the block.
