The area of Sloterdijk, west of the city centre of Amsterdam, is undergoing a radical transformation. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis this initially mono-functional office area suffered high rates of vacancy. The lack of housing and public amenities lead to a decay of the environment as a whole. Reacting to the housing shortage crisis, the city of Amsterdam formulated a new zoning plan transforming vacant office buildings into short-stay apartments and allowing for additional 1,500 to 2,000 new dwellings to be built.

The Student Village is built in the direct vicinity of the Sloterdijk Station. It is a modular structure based on a prefabricated student housing unit. The construction method and its low cost mean that in 10 years the buildings can be easily taken apart and recycled, making room for permanent housing. Working on the student quarters, we invested extra attention in its public terrain designing it to serve as an extension to the small scale apartments. The height difference between the eastern and western edge of the plot inspired a series of irregular terraces that create a semi-private zone around the buildings. To reinforce the feeling of a village we applied three different motifs of wooden cladding on the blocks creating a slight variation of the exterior.