The Front Gardens: new type of residential tower with linear exterior ceiling

Linear steel ceiling from Hunter Douglas Architectural combines graphic effect with excellent acoustic properties.

What was once the ING offices has now been transformed into a striking residential tower. One of the most special aspects of the building, is that the interior core has been moved outside: stairwell and elevators are located on the facade. Hunter Douglas Architectural supplied the exterior ceiling for this project.

Architectural firm Studio Elephant appropriately calls the concept itself: coreless, a typology that will henceforth be used for other projects in this style. Architect Peter van Gelder was closely involved in the project. "A lot of people who see De Voortuinen for the first time think it is an entirely new residential tower. But it is indeed an existing building."

Coreless concept with striking aesthetics

The coreless concept of The Front Gardens deviates from the standard in important ways, Van Gelder explains. "Normally the standard would be that you have the core somewhere inside the building, where the elevators and stairwell are located. We have now placed this outside, which gives you a completely different dynamic. So the front doors of the apartments are on the outside."
"By placing the elevators and stairs in the facade, you actually get four cores on each side of the building. For each floor, up to two homes per side are served by the elevator and stairs. This quickly gives the resident a sense of having a private elevator to enter the home."

Balconies with integrated trees

Another special feature of De Voortuinen is that the residential tower was made suitable for house-sharing. Van Gelder: "Precisely because the cores are against the facade, the opportunity arose to connect the private terraces directly to it. So you can step from the elevator onto your own terrace, and then enter your own part of the apartment that you share with others. That way, house sharers still have their own front door."
In a city like Amsterdam, there is actually always a need for more greenery. This too has been considered, Van Gelder says. The terraces of the apartments are quite deep, about 3 meters. Actually you speak more of a kind of front garden, so therefore we have integrated a total of 120 trees throughout the building, giving the building a very green appearance."

Linear steel exterior ceiling

The design of the residential tower includes a large area of exterior ceiling, below the gable axes. For this, the architects chose a Linear steel exterior ceiling type 70U exterior. Like many of Hunter Douglas Architectural's ceilings, this type has excellent acoustic properties. By using a joint between the slats, some of the sound is not reflected through the slats, but disappears into the plenum.

Extreme graphic effect

That combination of aesthetic and acoustic qualities is exactly what studio Elephant was looking for, van Gelder explains. "Actually, we found out quite late in the process that the design with the terraces was not very favorable acoustically. So we had to look for a ceiling where favorable sound absorption was possible. But unfortunately, those are often not the most beautiful ceilings."
That quest for aesthetic as well as acoustic quality led the architects to Hunter Douglas Architectural. Van Gelder: "When you stand in front of the building, the exterior ceiling is more than 50 percent what you see. So you do want it to catch the eye. Through the lines of the ceiling, you create an extremely graphic effect, which enhances the architectural quality of the building. Combined with the excellent acoustical properties, this ceiling was the choice for us where all the qualities we needed came together in the best way."