Amstel 3 is a mono-functional office area from the 1960s and -70s, situated in the southern part of Amsterdam. Designed without any kind of supplying infrastructure and public uses it has lost its attraction. Currently, more than 100,000 square metres are vacant and Amstel 3 is looking for a new vision.
I AMSTEL 3 is a scenario that transforms this mono-functional office-reigned non-place into a multilayered and vivid quarter. A place of employment turns into an attractive place to live and work.
The project uses the existing empty space and contrasts it with a selective concentration of actions. Four future user groups who will benefit from Amstel`s location form the basis for the strategy. The mixture of the already existing office users, students of the nearby AMC, people from the creative sector of Amsterdam as well as young professionals working in the Randstad and their different needs and interests will be the central part of the transformation process of I AMSTEL 3.
Spatially starting off with the creation of three initial points namely the Center Square, Pioneer Spot and the Zone of Activity, Amstel 3 will be visually and structurally transformed. The three points are coded for the different user and usage groups to encourage a self-driven characterization of the quarter.
Around these initial points vacant bureau spaces are transformed into residential flats, tailored to the specific needs of the pioneer user groups that settle in Amstel 3. The rigid character of the office buildings structure is loosened up through small constructional interventions that indicate change with respect to the original characteristics of the neighborhood.
Whilst the rest of Amstel remains untouched, the initial points will act like islands as new users and types of usage settle around them and create points of high activity. As time passes, stimuli will be sent out from the initial points to the rest of the quarter. Small indicators, markers, make use of the area between those spots. These are small interventions, which spur the places through mini-usages and pursue the stepwise activation of Amstel 3.
An additional step towards the revitalization of the area is the transformation of roads and parking areas within the quarter. Shifting parking lots to the less prominent places enables the break up of impervious surfaces and the creation of green zones such as the linear park, which is designed parallel to the metro line and softens the harsh appearance of Amstel 3.
With the ongoing intensification of life in Amstel 3 other user groups will be attracted, more buildings will be converted, new institutions will settle and new buildings appear on the scene. The driving elements for this transformation are human needs. Triggered with the activities at the initial points the necessities of the residents will soon lead the transformation of the neighborhood in a self-enhancing manner.
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