Youth Centre Amsterdam North | Mulders van den Berk Architects

At the beginning of the new North-South subwayline in Amsterdam-North, a new youth centre is realized. Mulders vandenBerk Architects designed the interior in colaboration with the local youth.

The space where the new youth centre is realized is positioned right under te main street 'Nieuwe Leeuwarderweg', the connection between the ring-hayway and the centre of Amsterdam. The assignment was to design a versatile space for the local youth.

The space is relatively deep and the only two windows are under the highway. To design a hallway with standard rooms, was not an option. Therefore an open plan was designed to wonder around in.

The secondary functions like storage, toilets and sound studio are placed in separate volumes free in the open space. In between the volumes we designed beautiful steel windowframes. In this way axtra spaces are created like an office, living room and girls room.

The actual space can be used in many different ways. One can walk all around the volumes to find hidden places and open places, long views and closed off spaces. The volumes are covered with robust orange coating to stand out in this grey surrounding.

The steel windowframes are very thin and design with a reference to the former stained glass windows. The many different frames behind each other seem to connect an react on the shape of the different orange volumes. Right behind the entrance is a big vide. This results in a good oversight for the staff and the wide staircase can be used as tribune.