In the Amsterdam neighborhood of Westerpark West, a new residential building has been completed, designed by Elephant. This building, named "Pepper," marks Elephant's second project in this emerging district. The architecture of Pepper clearly reflects the unique contribution of the end user in the facade's appearance.
Pepper stands side by side with "Salt," another building designed by MVRDV. Both towers are notable for their distinctive periscopic shape. Salt is oriented towards the city center, while Pepper offers a panoramic view over the Allotment Gardens to the north.
Robust Presence
The design fully embraces the robust form. Elephant has shaped Pepper as a powerful, independent volume, with square openings seemingly cut out to make space for windows, entrances, and public areas. Pepper stands as a black monolith on the ground level. Each architectural element is intentionally coarse, massive, and partially without a fixed scale to emphasize the whimsicality of Pepper. This is also reflected in the balconies, which appear as dark recesses inserted into the facade openings at various angles.
Bespoke Facade: S, M, L, XL
With Pepper, Elephant has attempted to give the buyer a stake in the quality of living by offering more outdoor space, additional daylight, and views. This is remarkable for a residential tower, as users typically become involved only after permits have been granted and the contractor has completed their work, with the facade often no longer being adaptable.
This adaptability of the facade has been made possible through a pre-established set of architectural possibilities. Balconies and windows can be enlarged within a certain size ratio. In collaboration with the Urban Design Committee and the municipality, Elephant has documented this in an image quality plan.
Balcony as a Product
The balconies of Pepper are fully tailored to their use. A balance between privacy and freedom is created by designing the balconies as enclosed compartments up to just above table height, while an open railing has been chosen above. This design provides the enclosed area with shelter and privacy from the street, while the railing offers a gentle openness and view. Each balcony has an integrated plant box at the end, with an outdoor storage cabinet underneath. Furthermore, all balconies are finished with decking boards for a lush appearance.
Previously, Elephant also designed the "coreless" residential building "De Voortuinen." Both residential complexes are part of the transformation of the former ING area, in line with the vision of MVRDV and in collaboration with landscape architect Gustafson Porter + Bowman.
The 82 apartments in Pepper are completed sept 2023.
