client Almere Hart cv.

location Stadshart Almere

design 1999-2002

realization 2002-2004

floor area 8740 m²

cubage 25602 m³

programm houses / fitness

Blok 16
2004
Block 16 is part of the master plan designed by OMA for a new
prestigious city centre in Almere. The autonomous expressive
block reacts on two conditions: the billowing end marks as a
kind of gatekeeper the harbour entrance. At the other end the
movement is smoothened and the building fits in with the
right-angled grid of the adjacent glass high-rise housing
blocks. The block is sited on a basement car park (design
OMA) serving as a pedestal. The elevated deck level is half
occupied by the common entrance and the storerooms. The
other part is a gym which continues on the parking level
below where it ends in the fitness-café, an autonomous
pavilion.
The design of Block 16 is largely based on an analysis of
tunnel formwork constructions. Implementation of this mode
of construction is financially attractive in developing major
housing projects. The basic principle of tunnel formwork is
the simultaneous casting of floors and party walls. Similar to
extrusion techniques, this requires a constant section. It is
common practice that the tunnels are also of a constant
length, resulting in a regular concrete skeleton. Variation in
the length of adjacent tunnels breaks the monotonous
structure. The result is a wavy façade surface providing the
block with a dynamic quality. This unusual application of
tunnel formwork implies a relatively small rise of the building
costs, but yields a much more expressive image. *
Initially a wooden cladding was planned, but in the
tenders submission it turned out to be too expensive. A
new solution was found by manufacturing façade
elements each covering an entire tunnel section. The
intention was to apply the elements in a weatherboard
manner, implying an overlap on all sides. This is only
possible if the panels in the vertical direction shift
sideways, resulting in an unwanted diagonal grid in the
elevation. Because of the adapted application of the
weatherboard principle, the sides of the panels do not fit.
The remaining oversized 'chink' is sealed with a different
material, separating the elements from each other. It
provides the building with two faces; smooth and wavy in
one direction, rough and staggered in the other.
The silver-coloured anodised aluminium cladding of the
façade combined with the continuously changing
incidence of light creates a varying identity of Block 16
and suggests a moving scaly creature.
* Eventually the building contractor preferred the use of wide-slab
floors. This radical change in the method of construction had no
implications for the expressive appearance and character of the
building.

Block 16 is equipped with two central corridors, providing the

occupants' access to the apartments. The living rooms of all
the 49 apartments are south-facing and orientated to the
waterfront. On the northern side of the block the private
stairs are located interconnecting higher or lower floors. The
main communal stairwell fills a seven-storey void located
behind the biggest bulge. The deviant function is furthermore
revealed in the exterior by the strip of half sized cladding
panels.
The hollows and bulges in the façade all have a functional
basis. The dimple on the north side marks the entrance and
the protruding south façade arises from adding patios to
some apartments.
1 Fitness
2 Parking garage
3 Hallway
4 Storage
5 Living room
6 Living/Kitchen
7 Living
8 Bedroom
9 Patio

Situation

1 1

3
2

Souterrain

3
4 1
5

Ground floor
 6 8
8

7 7 8

First floor

6 8 6
7

9 7
6
7

6th floor

Cross section