Mauritskade Apartments

Mauritskade Apartments in Amsterdam, Netherlands by Erick van Egeraat, 2002

Sited in the Dapperbuurt area of Amsterdam, twelve luxury apartments sit opposite the anthropological museum, Tropenmuseum. This prominent location, adjacent to one of the city's canals, sits on a triangular piece of land that is otherwise full of 19th century structures. So the architect, Erick van Egeraat, faced two contextual problems: relating to the existing buildings and dealing with the public face the site entails.

In addition to the twelve apartments, the program called for parking and commercial space, both fitted into the ground floor. According to the architect, "a mix of vertical and horizontal lines were chosen for the for the elevations to match the existing 19th century buildings." As the facade wraps, stone stacked vertically next to its neighbor gives way to a horizontal expression at the corner and back to verticality on the other street. So on both sides the building attempts to relate to the stacked, punched openings of the existing buildings.

While the dark, vertical stone gives the building much of its character, Egeraat varied the plan of each floor to create overhangs that further create shadow lines. With the intended effect, the building's image would change with the weather and the time of day. Given that the building is oriented with the longest elevation facing the canal, playing with the exteriors materials (wood frames provide a pleasant contrast to the stone and gray aluminum) and depth is appropriate.

In addition to dealing with the site characteristics through the exterior, the entries to the apartments are contained in separate lobbies. Doing this avoids long corridors but also allows for the greatest amount of window space for each unit, again appropriate for its location. But it is the varying floor plates and the curved corner that give the project its main identity, a restrained playfulness that is missing in a lot of Dutch architecture these days.