Bajes Kwartier | OMA

The former Bijlmerbajes in Amsterdam, a prison complex in the SouthEast of the city built in the 1970s, will be redeveloped by a team lead by real estate developer AM, in which OMA is responsible for the masterplan of the 7.5 ha site, as well as the design of a significant portion of the 135,000 m2 building development.

The towers of the Bijlmerbajes have been a landmark in the periphery of Amsterdam for decades. With the city’s urban expansion to the north, south, east and west, the prison complex has gradually become a geographic center of Amsterdam’s new urban development, and can develop into a vibrant civic and cultural space.

The original prison masterplan was comprised of six linked towers and an administrative building, with a series of courtyards and separate gardens. In OMA’s masterplan, the island character of the prison enclosed by walls is conceptually preserved, yet linked at several positions through new pedestrian and cycle bridges. The Bajes Kwartier is structured as a series of four clusters, each one with a strong character and program mix, to be linked via a central pedestrian + cycle path on the footprint of the former prison distribution spine, the Kalverstraat. One of the existing towers will be transformed into a Green Tower, a vertical public park to showcase Dutch urban farming concepts and a viewing platform for the neighborhood. The Bajes Kwartier will become a largely car-free environment, with gardens and areas for recreation and fitness.

The land and buildings property of the Dutch government’s Rijksvastgoedbedrijf will be sold to real estate developer AM. The new development includes around 1,350 new apartments for sale and rent, and a large variety of typologies including 30% of social rental apartments. The sustainability strategy calls for 100% energy neutral buildings and the reuse of 98% of the existing materials. Concrete will be recycled and reused, prefab elements from the existing walls are to be reused as cladding for new residential buildings, prison bars will be used as balustrades, and the cell doors are to become edge panels for the new pedestrian bridges. A system to recycle organic waste into soil and energy will be implemented, and excess heat from a nearby Data Center will be reused for the heating of the apartments.

The project is scheduled to begin in 2018, with an expected completion date in 2023.

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