Master plan Slotervaart

The master plan consists of 12 building blocks with a diverse programme with dwellings, (care) facilities, and offices. By breaking open the closed design of the existing Kruisgebouw (cross building) , four green courtyards are created that connect the complex with the surrounding city. The area will once again become an open and dynamic part of the city, and the accessibility between CVZ Slotervaart and the surrounding neighbourhoods will be improved.

The Kruisgebouw, built in 1975, forms the starting point for the vision and will become the beating heart of CVZ. The lower floors will facilitate various health care functions and on the upper floors several care homes will be created. The space around the building will be used as a new living and working area. An additional 80,000 m2 will be built here, creating a highly urban mixed neighbourhood with a high building density that is in line with developments in the immediate vicinity. CVZ is part of a cluster called De Plantijn sub-area. In addition to the former Slotervaart Medical Center, the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, the Nederlands Cancer Institute, Sanquin and the Hof van Sloten care home are housed here.

The original windmill-shaped structure of the Cross  building formed the starting point of the transformation of the district. The closed courtyards, which make intensive interaction with the surrounding public space more difficult, are being connected to the surroundings. Breaking open the tangents that create the closedness, four open courtyards arise that fan out in all four directions, surrounded by a new building volume. The intervention in the structure can be read as an inverse of the windmill structure: we open the courtyards in the four cardinal directions and thus connect the complex with its surroundings. The themed green courts each have their own character and program and facilitate the connection of the complex with the environment. This creates a clear structure that does justice to the powerful expression of CVZ Slotervaart.

The four building fields around the courtyards of the Cross building will be divided into smaller blocks to increase the area’s permeability. An urban wall with an active plinth is being created along the Johan Huizingalaan. The blocks are placed against the plot boundary so that the profile of the Johan Huizingalaan is narrowed and more in line with that of the Amsterdam city street. Homes on the water will be located on the south side of the complex. Playing with height differences of the various buildings on the site creates opportunities for terraces and roof gardens and an extra green layer is added to the ground level.