Schellingwoude

At the foot of the Schellingwoude bridge, where Nescio’s Titaantjes made a dyke walk on the border bewteeen North Amsterdam and Waterland, is the triangular plot which our office created an urban vision. The most striking feature of the site is the difference in perception at different heights. At first floor level, everything is large, wide and moving: the bridge, the lock the IJ, the noise from the motorway. In contrast, at ground level everything is more intimate, green, idyllic and quiet. Here you would be able to observe the extremely rare grass snake and hear the flutter of dragon flies. The design gives a lot of the green spaces back to nature, and is consistent with the ecological hierarchy.