the pulse

VMX joins forces with MVSA and DELVA Landscape Architecture Urbanism to bring more life and vibrancy to the city with an ambitious mixed-use development, complete with urban forest.

TWO TOWERS

More than the sum of its parts, the Pulse embodies a new vision of city life. This Amsterdam development unites an urban forest, a state-of-the-art office tower, high-quality residential building and public facilities ; including cafés, restaurants, cinema and supermarket.

The integrated design from VMX Architects, MVSA, and DELVA, for VORM Development, was the winning concept in the competition for a new 56,000m2 ‘gateway’ to the new district ‘Kenniskwartier’.

The new neighbourhood is framed by Station Zuid, VU Medical Center, Zuidas business district, A10 motorway and the neighbourhood of Buitenveldert. Construction started in August 2021.

A NEW ENERGY

The City of Amsterdam set high standards for the new development, from the quality of the homes to circularity and sustainability, urban nature, mobility and public facilities. The Pulse is the first building in Zuidas which combines living, working, leisure and nature. The development creates a common ground for all the users of the location, from workers, residents and cinema visitors to plants, trees and wildlife. The goal is to bring more life – in every sense of the word – to this corner of the city.

The development consists of two towers – one office, one residential – atop a plinth that joins them and houses the leisure functions. On top of the plinth, and between the two towers, there is an urban forest at a height of 35 metres above the ground, complete with 8-metre-high native species of trees. This space is devoted to nature, and forms part of a green corridor linking the city’s two largest green areas, the Amstelscheg and the Amsterdamse Bos.

FOR Everyone

Rather than a corporate lobby with a concierge the ground floor is designed as one “blurring zone” welcoming anyone who wants to go to work, home or to the cafes, restaurants or cinemas. A large space filled with light and green is designed as a singular public interior space, a new place to meet in Zuidas.

Energy GeneratOr

In line with the aims of the whole development, the office tower is sustainable. The solar panels are integrated into the façade without distracting from the aesthetic appeal of the building, by angling the windows so that the solar panels remain invisible from the ground. This solution also has the advantage of creating natural shade. The angular façade design also avoids creating a wind-tunnel effect on the street below. The design also uses a sustainable new material, a composite made from recycled plastic bottles.

A building from Somewhere

The residential tower illustrates the local qualities of Amsterdam. It channels the architecture of the “Amsterdam School” with its orange brick façade and sculptural forms of stacked and staggered volumes. The office tower on the other hand, is an ‘anywhere’ icon: the kind of office building you might find in any metropolis, with a sharp profile, gleaming façade and top-of-the-range facilities.

Together, the two towers of the Pulse add a new architectural impulse to the area, which is typified by rectangular blocks. Instead, the towers of the Pulse present two very different yet complementary structures: slim, angular, sculptural and all-sided, adding visual, as well as programmatic liveliness to the area.