<translation>Residential building Sluishuis in Amsterdam by BIG</translation>

Near the island of IJburg on the eastern outskirts of Amsterdam, an apartment building designed by Bjarke Ingels was to rise, resembling a moored ship on Lake IJ. The stepped terraced block is named 'Sluishuis', which literally translates to sluice house. The winning competition design was created in collaboration between the Copenhagen studio BIG and Rotterdam architects Barcode. Before founding his own practice, Bjarke Ingels interned at the Dutch studio OMA, later establishing PLOT with Julien de Smedt and a few years afterward his own studio BIG. Now, with the Sluishuis project, he returns to the Netherlands. In a flat country full of water canals and artificial polders, the theme of connecting the urban block with the water surface was naturally proposed. The block responds to the surrounding conditions, orienting itself to the cardinal directions, giving the entire structure sculptural qualities. The resulting massing allows sufficient sunlight into the inner courtyard and also opens it up to northern views of the lake. Additionally, a series of smaller artificial islands connected by a public footpath are scattered around the main residential block.