Urban planners in Amsterdam had a problem: What to do with three old silos, from a derelict sewage treatment plant? So they held a competition to re-imagine the site. The winning entry is a multi-story cultural center that transforms an eyesore into an icon that is visible from nearly anywhere in the surrounding area.
The site is located in the fast-growing suburb of Zeeburg, which had once been an industrial fringe. The new proposal turns the silos into a mixed-use series of buildings that includes a theater, a restaurant, an exhibition space, and shops. The roof includes a dramatic, open-air playground. It’s slated for completion in 2011, and will be named after Annie MG Schmidt, Holland’s most famous children’s author, who grew up in the district.
The solution was created by Arons en Gelauff architects, a firm probably best known for its recent student dorm, which had a climbing wall on its side, along with landscape architect Rob Aben, and Janneke Hooymans, an interior designer.
[Via Arch Daily]