Scarwafa Co-Housing

Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy

SCARWAFA CO-HOUSING

Krft

ARCHITECTS
Krft

LOCATION
Ámsterdam, The Netherlands

CATEGORY
House Interiors, Residential, Coliving

AREA
647 m²

YEAR
2016

CONTRACTOR
Bouwbedrijf Van Schaik

LEAD ARCHITECT
Thomas Dieben, Oscar Vos

CLIENT
Anna & Rens, Anna & Casper, Arne & Sandrijn

COLLABORATORS
Oscar de Blanken, Nick Krouwel, Anna Noyons

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Arup Amsterdam, Landman Bouwconstructie

Scarwafa (an acronym for the 6 owners) is a small-scale cohousing project of 3 befriended young families, who acquired three neighboring plots in the Buiksloterham area in Amsterdam, at the height of the last financial crisis.

Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy

From the start, collectivity and simplicity were the guiding motives.The thin budgets demanded conservativeness in form and materialization.

By developing a coherent, collective architectural language, there was an effectiveness in basic detailing and cost savings in implementation.

With these basic details in hand, 3 individualized homes with different spatiality have been designed to fit the individual needs.

Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy

In the construction method, the choice was made to undress traditional building and to omit the usual added layers to the "bare necessities": construction turned into aesthetics. Floors are unfinished on both top and bottom.

For this purpose, a combined wood-concrete floor was designed together with constructor Arup Amsterdam, in which a traditional wooden beam layer acted as a lost formwork for a concrete floor poured into the work, structurally coupled with diagonal nails. This was made by carpenters themselves, without subcontractors.

Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing

The collectivity was not only found in a common building system, but also in the facade. The houses have the same facade details, but an individual materialization. The three facades are connected again by the "super veranda".

A steel frame – an abstraction of a traditional canal house façade - serves as a rack for individual interpretation: balconies, sun blinds, façade greenery, pv cells, laundry. With this element, a coherent project is set up, with 3 unique houses within.

Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy
Scarwafa Co-Housing
© Christian van der Kooy


Scarwafa Co-Housing
Model
Scarwafa Co-Housing
Model
Scarwafa Co-Housing
Model
Scarwafa Co-Housing
Model


Scarwafa Co-Housing
Plan
Scarwafa Co-Housing
Site Plan
Scarwafa Co-Housing
Plan