The highest wooden building in the Netherlands is also highly transformable

Patch22, a creation of the Dutch architectural office FRANTZEN et al, is the highest wooden apartment building in the Netherlands.

Patch22, a creation of the Dutch architectural office FRANTZEN et al, is the highest wooden apartment building in the Netherlands. Located in Amsterdam north, this 30m (98ft) tall structure has a high level of sustainability and an impressive level of flexibility, as it can be easily transformed from a residential project into an office building. The architect Tom Frantzen and H20 installation consultancy & building management have jointly established Lemniskade Projects in order to make Patch22 real and in 2009, because of this proposal, they won the Sustainability Tender Amsterdam Buiksloterham, an innovative tender procedure as the proposals were judged on sustainability aspects instead of financial bids. The project was completed in 2016, with a budget of €6.400.000. Lemniskade Projects recently acquired the neighboring plot and developed a new project called Top-Up. This will also become a 30m high wooden apartment building on top of an existing concrete structure. It is scheduled to break ground in June 2017.

Striking architecture

Wood is the building’s main component: Patch22 is not only covered with a wooden façade but also has a 30m high wooden load bearing structure in which the wooden columns, beams and walls are largely left visible. Large windows offer great views of the old town of Amsterdam and provide natural lighting. The apartments have a flexible layout by using hollow floors where the installations and pipes can be adjusted as desired by easily removing the top layer. This way, the occupants can design and make their own floor plans and even adjust them over the years. Due to this flexibility, the building can also be turned into offices with a few simple moves.

Balconies on the south side of the building are up to 2.4 m deep, providing an outdoor extension of the living room, and a sliding glass panel system is installed to protect them from the wind. The building is located in an industrial area, so the balconies on the north side are covered with noise insulating single sheet glass facades to minimize the disturbance.

This high-rise building uses an innovative approach in order to meet all the fire regulations: in case of fire, the outer layer of wood can burn up and will protect the structurally necessary wood, by charring for up to 120 minutes!

Sustainability

In terms of its carbon footprint, Patch22 covers its energy needs from the solar panels installed on its roof and uses a CO₂-neutral heating system with pellets for heating. The abundant use of wood for its construction also helps to store as much CO₂ as possible in the building itself. Moreover, rainwater is harvested and used for non-potable purposes.

Distinctions

The building was awarded with the WAN 2016 Residential Award on January 10th 2017 and with the Green Award a day earlier. Last November, the project was runner-up for the ARC2016 innovation awards, while last December for the Amsterdam Zuiderkerk award for the best housing project of 2016.