Located in Aan het IJ, north of Amsterdam's city center, The Stack exemplifies urban living through a balance of individuality and community. Designed by KAAN Architects within Geurst & Schulze's master plan, the two interconnected villas offer 120 distinctive apartments. This diversity is achieved through varied outdoor spaces and apartment layouts, minimizing repetition.
Strategically positioned opposite Central Station, Aan het IJ provides a tranquil residential option within Amsterdam's vibrant landscape. Its location offers both urban engagement and moments of calm.
The Stack reinterprets early 20th-century housing models with communal facilities and flexible living and working spaces. It includes apartments, shared decks, and a central garden, balancing urban density with spaciousness and adaptability.
Structural logic and carbon efficiency
The project's embodied carbon strategy is grounded in structural clarity and material continuity rather than material substitution. A consistent concrete system is used for the primary structure, facade panels, balcony slabs, and balustrades.
This integrated approach limits the number of material interfaces and secondary finishes, reducing construction complexity and material redundancy. Durable materials such as architectural concrete, natural stone at entrances, and aluminum window frames are selected for their long service life, reducing the likelihood of premature replacement.
Facade, daylight, and environmental performance
The staggered facade geometry, articulated through stepped terraces and recessed balconies, supports solar exposure control and improves daylight access to the apartments. Window openings are positioned to maximize natural light and outward views, contributing to reduced reliance on artificial lighting during daytime hours.
Light gray concrete facades provide thermal mass, while bronze-toned metal window frames and railings maintain a consistent envelope strategy across both buildings. Apartment layouts prioritize cross-orientation where possible, supporting natural ventilation and balanced daylight conditions. Operational energy demand is addressed through passive design measures and decentralized renewable generation.
The buildings integrate roof-mounted solar panels, while heating and cooling are delivered through underfloor systems that allow for low-temperature operation.
Interiors and product selection
Interior specifications include kitchen systems by Siematic and sanitary fixtures by Villeroy & Boch, manufacturers with established environmental reporting practices.
Material choices favor long-life components with established supply chains, enabling future access to product data for maintenance, replacement, or refurbishment phases.
Adaptability principles
The Stack, while designed as a residence, prioritizes future adaptability through regular floor plates, consistent structural grids, and clear circulation cores, enabling apartment reconfiguration and potential use changes. Shared outdoor spaces and communal circulation enhance flexibility at both building and neighborhood levels.
The project's circularity focuses on longevity over disassembly. Although concrete elements are not designed for reversible construction, separable components like aluminum frames, railings, fixtures, and building services can be removed and recycled.
Design approach
Referencing 1930s residences and residential hotels, the master plan creates housing with communal facilities that blend living and working. The neighborhood's green ambiance is enhanced by building placement, forming both public urban spaces and communal interiors. Aan het IJ offers a new live-work environment for the city, distinguished by a strong urban identity.
The neighborhood features a park-like grid of evenly distributed buildings, with a diverse network of roads, streets, and paths. Open spaces arise where buildings are absent. The structure blends the street patterns of the former industrial area with those of the ‘Van der Pek’ neighborhood. It inverts the traditional formal city, characterized by stately buildings and private courtyards, into an informal neighborhood with accessible buildings and expressive, personalized balconies, lacking distinct front or back sides. KAAN Architecten adopts these principles as the starting point for the design and development of “The Stack”.
The apartments feature similar layouts but diverse facades, resulting in a variety of unit styles. The smaller units are located on the lower floors, while the larger ones are above, ranging from 49 to 105 square meters. The East building includes a penthouse floor, which comprises two units of 160 square meters each, offering stunning views.
