Construction of De Oosterlingen reached its highest point on Tuesday, with the 17-storey “Swallow Tower” topping out in a ceremony held by developer Being, contractor Vink Bouw, and MVRDV. Swallow Tower is the tallest of the seven adjoining buildings that make up De Oosterlingen; also currently under construction are the adjacent building, “The Beekeeper”, and the two buildings at the other end of the ensemble, “The Deck” and “The Courtyard”, while the three buildings in the middle of the group – “The Reed”, “The Garden”, and “The House” – will be completed in a later phase of construction.

Image © Vink Bouw

The buildings of De Oosterlingen form a clear family in their ‘barcode’ composition, but each has its own character. MVRDV designed each building to have its own identity, its own apartment type, and its own contribution to biodiversity, by introducing greenery and nesting locations carefully designed to support various wildlife species.

In addition to this biodiversity, the project also aims to serve as a diverse test-bed of low-carbon façade construction techniques using circular economy principles. Most of the seven façades are designed to be demountable and reusable, or will be made with recycled or reused materials, or both.

Positioned at the entrance to Amsterdam’s Oostenburg island, De Oosterlingen creates a green, people-focused street that will form a striking entrance to the newly-developing neighbourhood. The project will comprise 142 homes for a variety of owners, with 550 m2 of space reserved in the plinths of the buildings for various facilities, such as catering establishments, a shop for healthy food, or a social impact factory intended for companies involved in social entrepreneurship.

Learn more about the design of De Oosterlingen here.