Winner: Housing project of the year 2022. Olaf Gipser Architects has created a green tower in Amsterdam to address the challenges of communal, high-density, sustainable and healthy urban living.

The project is located at an exposed urban location in the post-industrial former harbour area of Amsterdam-Noord.

The design is multipurpose and comprises 29 living and work units, a shared private area with a gym, sauna and kitchen with outdoor urban farming, six commercial spaces on the plinth including a storytelling café with a social-cultural program and an on-ground parking garage.

Made largely from timber with a negative carbon balance, it uses open building principles to assure longevity. The facade is conceived as a microclimate zone with outdoor spaces in the form of balconies and winter gardens for all dwelling units. There is also a communal roof for urban farming that is connected to the shared, multifunctional indoor space, alongside 57 double-height vegetation units.

Judges comments: "The architect says its aim was to address the "challenge of communal, high-density, sustainable and healthy urban living" and the project achieves these aims admirably. These are principles that are desperately needed to address sustainable urban development in the future. The project also very intelligently and playfully avoids the monotony that often plagues mass housing to create a place to live that is both sustainable and desirable."

Architect: Olaf Gipser Architects

Project: Stories