postillion

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completed

november 2018

programme

15.000 sqm, 252 rooms

responsibilities

architecture

location

amsterdam, nl

Postillion Hotel Amsterdam, with 252 rooms in a 65-metre tower, forms the final piece of the Kauwgomballenfabriek transformation. The programme has been expanded with a wide range of public functions.

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the site

Postillion Hotel is situated in Amsterdam's Overamstel neighbourhood, an industrial area currently undergoing a large-scale transformation towards a mixed urban neighbourhood of living, working and leisure. The building is part of the urban plinth along the Spaklerweg and forms the transition to Overamstel, situated beside the former factory complex of bubble-gum producer Maple Leaf, which in the past decade was successfully transformed into the Kauwgomballenfabriek with workspaces, studios and meeting facilities. Following the directions of the main road and passing metro lines, the hotel deviates from the surrounding urban plinth, making it a clear marker of the neighbourhood that is visible from all directions.

a social landscape

Alongside the 252 rooms, the hotel was expanded with a wide range of public functions: open workspaces, a restaurant, two bars, meeting facilities and a public square with a tea pavilion. Together these form a 'social landscape' where hotel guests, locals and visitors come to work, meet or relax. A newly designed square cascades up into the building, connecting the lobby, bars, workspaces and restaurant across multiple indoor and outdoor levels. At the heart sits the 360-degree bar, serving on all sides, while a large glass wall opens the restaurant onto the cascading deck.

dividing the mass

By 'cutting through' the axis of the corridor and shifting the two sides apart, the volume became more elegant and slimmer, with a different look from every side. To counteract the industrial environment and the scale of the area, the building is abstract and scale-less, with a façade formed by a static rhythm of anodised aluminium cassettes in three shades and deeply recessed windows. On the side of the metro fly-overs the façade closes off, while on the side of the square it opens up towards the Kauwgomballenfabriek.