Dutch architecture firm GG-loop has wrapped an apartment building in Amsterdam with a beautiful facade of timber slats. According to the architects, the design for the Freebooter Apartments incorporates a number of biophilic design principals in an attempt to connect the building’s residents with nature. In addition to its light-filtering timber screen, the building also includes a number of materials that pay homage to the city’s maritime traditions.
The four-story apartment block is a prefabricated structure that was manufactured offsite using steel and cross-laminated timber. The prefabrication process not only reduced the cost and environmental footprint of the project but the construction time as well. In fact, the entire construction process only took six months from start to finish.
Related: Biophilic dome homes produce more energy than they consume
According to architect and founder of GG Loop Giacomo Garziano, the design for the Freebooter Apartments was inspired by the principles of biophilic design, which aims to connect architecture with natural elements. “We are part of nature in a deep and fundamental way, but in our modern lives, we’ve lost that connection,” Garziano said. “Freebooter is a response to that; as I see biophilic design as the key to truly innovative design, balancing the technical aspects of environmentally conscious construction with the qualitative, lived-in experience of an organic and natural space.”
The sustainable design was focused primarily on natural materials and natural light. Before the project broke ground, the architects conducted a study of the sun’s movement over the course of the year. This analysis was instrumental in the positioning the building and placing the timber louvers at certain angles so that the interior spaces were properly lit by diffused natural light. The long vertical planks of timber cover the entire building, including the terraces. Cutouts in the timber screen allow more light to stream into certain spots of the complex.
As a nod to the city’s long history of shipbuilding, the design also features various elements of marine architecture, such as the red cedar planks, pine wood, steel and glass. These aspects are found throughout the interior, where natural light, pine-clad walls and curved stairways and corridors create an atmosphere of being in a ship’s cabin. The two-story units all feature open-plan living spaces on the ground floor with the bedrooms on the second floor. Throughout the space, minimalist design features and large glass facades that open up to spacious terraces shaded by the tops of the louvers enhance the feeling of being close to nature.
Via Wallpaper
Photography by Michael Sieber
