Redefining an urban corner situation

Together with the Maria Magdalena church, the former Elisabeth primary school formed part of the monumental corner development Zaanstraat Spaandammerstraat. The demolition of the church has left the corner open and disturbed the urban proportions. The addition of a storey to the former 1920’s school in the Amsterdamse school style gives the building more presence and clearly defines the transition to the new green zone. Our aim is to keep the original proportions of the school legible while allowing the addition to become part of the whole.

Instead of setting the new structure architecturally apart from the existing building, we decided to derive the structure and materiality from the existing building. We used the light-coloured horizontal concrete bands that run around the building as a reference point. The new structure takes up the proportions of the existing building. The structure is glazed in the areas with dwellings and open in the areas with outdoor spaces.