EFE News Agency
A building planned for the Netherlands looks like it belongs in a post-disaster jungle world, but it will actually have a regenerative effect: it will house hundreds of people and include wilderness areas designed to support birds, bats, hedgehogs and fish, increasing urban biodiversity.
At first glance, this building seems straight out of a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel or film, where the world has been devastated by a catastrophe and wildlife has overrun the cities abandoned by humankind. But in reality, this architectural work was conceived for a better world, not a worse one than the one we have now.
It will be built in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, the largest city in that European country and a major international financial and cultural center, with just over 900,000 inhabitants and a high population density, where available housing for purchase or rent is not usually abundant.
This new building will not only help alleviate the shortage of housing for humans, adding 82 apartments to the city's real estate inventory, but will also offer a new habitat for various species of wild animals, from nests and spaces for birds and bats on the facade of the building, to gardens and waters that will house hedgehogs and fish.
“We tried to recreate the perfect habitat inside this building for some animal species that are now disappearing from the city, such as sparrows, bats, or some types of butterflies,” Jos-Willem van Oorschot, partner architect and director of VenhoevenCS architecture+urbanism, told the specialist magazine Fast Company (FC)
The new Proto-Zoöp Zeeburg (PZZ) building will be built on a river island near the city center, which was formerly an industrial area and housed a wastewater treatment plant, and is now being transformed into a car-free and environmentally sustainable neighborhood.
The official name of the project, described as “an option for an inclusive life in nature”, is a clear demonstration of its philosophy and intentions.
In fact, this building has been designed to set the guidelines for "how construction should take place in the city in the coming years," according to architect Jos-Willem van Oorschot, according to VenhoevenCS.
FOR HUMAN AND NON-HUMAN LIFE.
The term 'Zoöp' describes an organizational model or concept of cooperation between human and non-human life which represents the interests of all, and derives from «zoë», the Greek word for «life», according to VenhoevenCS, while the prefix «Proto» also comes from Greek and confers the sense of 'first' or 'principal'.
The word Zeeburg, meanwhile, refers to Zeeburgereiland, the triangular island in Amsterdam where this building will be constructed, specifically in the new Sluisbuurt neighborhood, which will include up to 5,500 homes and facilities planned for the Dutch city.
This construction concept will benefit both the building's inhabitants, who will be in continuous contact with nature, learning to know and protect it, and the flying, terrestrial and aquatic living beings, which will be able to nest and live in its gardens, roofs and surfaces with hollows and reliefs and interior aquatic environments, says DS Landschapsarchitecten.
At the site where the land meets the river, a stone wall with crevices will be built to allow plants to grow and fish to reproduce. On one side of the building, the wall will be lower, so animals like ducks can make their homes there among the bushes, according to FC.
The trees, shrubs, grasslands and plants of PZZ will be a refuge for numerous species, such as the sparrow that already inhabits that urban area and is expected to settle in the building.
Sluisbuurt is located on the far west side of Zeeburgereiland, and will be a sustainable, car-free neighborhood with a mix of high and low buildings, according to its plans.
Proto-Zoöp Zeeburg complex, side view. Image: VenhoevenCS, S Landschapsarchitecten, B1 design.
A 'Zoöp' type organization must meet strict conditions and on its board or board, a person who resides on the premises assumes the role of representative of non-human beings (wild species), explains Miriam Tijs, from the public relations and business development team of VenhoevenCS, to EFE.
This “spokesperson for life” intervenes in all decisions that are made, including the design of the building.
VEGETABLE GREEN AND AQUATIC BLUE.
The future PZZ apartment complex will have 82 homes and a parking lot, will include spaces for shops and businesses on its ground floor and will be characterized by its different heights and by the richness of its vegetation composed of native plants.
The PZZ, whose land borders the Sluisbuurt waterway and is located near a public park, “will give nature a voice in the city,” according to VenhoevenCS.
In that sense, its roofs, terraces and facades with vegetation areas have been designed to contribute to improving the climate and stimulating biological diversity, providing shelter to five species of fauna: those that inhabit buildings, wooded areas, scrublands, meadows or pastures and aquatic environments that border the land, respectively.
The building will become a place where people, plants and animals will all feel "at home," its designers say.
This apartment complex, with units of varying sizes for families, couples, and singles, will have a maximum gross floor area of 10,000 square meters (m²) and all its homes will have a minimum size of 40 m², reports VenhoevenCS.
He adds that the building will score well in sustainability, partly due to the triple-glazed windows, heat recovery systems, and photovoltaic panels integrated into its design.
A two-story, double-height base, situated partly above the main street, and the building's long commercial facade, which reaches to the corner, offer an attractive 1,500 m² space for shops and entrepreneurial businesses, satisfying the need for more stores in Sluisbuurt.
In this residential and commercial complex, an intimate green-blue “inner world” will coexist in the waters inside the building, with docks made of natural materials with openings, ferns and grasses, and a cantilevered facade with vegetation.
The building is developed at different heights, ranging from 12, 17, 20 to 40 meters, with six rooftops with different functions, which will include spaces for neighbors, nature and water.
