Ravel Residence | Amsterdam

With a striking perforated facade, this temporary student housing, successfully proofed that an empty land could be transformed into housing area.

Architects and developers generally want to add something to the city, but if the 2008 credit crisis has taught us anything, it is that the built environment can benefit from a pause for thought. Don’t build for a while. Emptiness and temporary interventions are an underestimated architectural value. If the classic line-up of banks, investors and developers (temporarily) disappears from the scene, the city does not come to a standstill, but alternative parties’ ideas emerge. Non-real estate can also be a temporary solution for vacancies because the usual real estate laws do not apply.

Ravel Residence is located in a part of the city that has been orphaned by the credit crisis and offers accommodation to students and creates architectural freedom. Ravel’s striking perforated facade, the many communal areas, the tropical garden, the basketball court on the roof: these would have been less easy to realize if this building had not been labeled ‘temporary’. Temporality – in this case a maximum of twelve years – should not be confused with fleeting quality. Temporary architecture can be a valuable test, failure is not the end of the world. Beautiful and ugly is no argument.

The Ravel Residence is a versatile, sustainable campus for 800 students, designed to have a positive impact on the urban environment. The goal was to give the Ravel location a new urban identity, with a better connection to the urban and cultural climate in Amsterdam. The use of bicycles and public transport is stimulated and encouraged.

A mix of functions provides a viable and enjoyable living and working environment in a green urban environment. Ravel Residence is a durable, recyclable building shaped by detailed attention to flexibility. Long-term quality assurance is achieved through careful management of energy, environmental, and social services.

Student housing is primarily housing for young people who are at the start of their (living) career. This growing group is on the lookout for good, affordable, sustainable, and flexible accommodation. They all want places of their own, with plenty of privacy, but also with opportunities to build up a social student life. Preferably in a dynamic urban setting close to amenities and public transport. Ravel Residence has become a large-scale student campus on an urban location with international appeal. The location provides everything a student needs for pleasant and comfortable living. There are study rooms for individual or collective use; facilities designed in the manner of a grand café, a lounge, or a private dining room — to cook and eat with guests. There is a laundry, a large bicycle storage and a courtyard, as well as a unique sports field installed on the roof of the building. There is even a general practitioner’s practice, where a neighbourhood doctor visits the Ravel Residence twice a week for consultations.

We were asked to make an entrance at the side of Antonio Vivaldistraat and create a special program that stimulates liveliness in the area at the corner of the Boelelaan. By removing several apartments at strategic locations, we were able to create spaces for public, commercial, and collective purpose. The mix of public and private functions, complemented by two separate outdoor spaces, each with its own character, ensures a pleasant living environment.

We designed the building completely and did the complete draft work for the contractor, together with our advisors, within the given limited budget and timing.