White Cape

The housing complex and commercial units are situated on a triangular plot. This uniquely sited building is often compared to a cruise ship. In the middle section, the building has only three storeys, but this gradually increases to seven storeys towards both ends. At street level, a strip of white pebbles forms a transitional zone to the dwellings.
Live in a stunning location in IJburg. Many boats sail past, but the most splendid ship is on the waterside: Witte Kaap’. So opens the website promoting the striking white building Claus and Kaan architects have designed on Haveneiland Oost and which is due for completion in 2010.
The comparison with a cruise ship is obvious because of the colour, the ‘stacking of decks’ and the view over the water from virtually all floors. The apartments situated in the building’s rounded tip are located in the ‘bow’. The lowest section contains ten, three- and four-storey single-family dwellings, each with its own exterior space. Most of the dwellings are in the social rental sector.
Without availing himself of shipping metaphors, writing in the newspaper Het Parool (03.07.10), Ronald Hooft called Witte Kaap (white cape) ‘the handsomest block in the otherwise rather monotonous IJburg’. The white painted elevations are indeed an exception here, as are the rounded forms. The roof with green sedum covering is, of course, not visible from the street.