Amsterdam needs its creative spaces: places to develop, room to play. The city is currently home to a vibrant app-developer community and it is second only to cities like Berlin. Already a great network exists connecting this upcoming economy with local new media institutes and educational facilities. All throughout the city little startups are emerging in incubator sites. The Parool Triangle is currently one of these sites, yet it is under pressure to make way for housing.
My proposal is not to sacrifice this site to housing but to reinforce it with a mixed programme of student housing, a new media library and creative facilities; everything an new start-up would need: a place to sleep, a place to learn and a place to work.
The suggested hybrid building would provide a framework for further development. Not a rigid structure but a flexible building that can expand, shrink, adapt and change according to new needs.
A frame of laminated beams and columns provides this flexibility; at any time floors and walls can be added or removed within the wood-frame structure. The 4 layers of library, open spaces and housing infuse the Triangle with new energy and reinforce its potential.
Seen from the plan the FRAMEwork building presents itself as free flowing spaces in a sea of columns. All interior walls are removable. The shafts providing plumbing are rigid, yet all the bathroom/kitchen facilities are plug-in units: to be added or removed if the functions should change; apartments can grow and shrink vertically or horizontally, as do the offices: Room to expand and develop!
