The August is one of five social housing blocks in the new residential area Overhoeks in Amsterdam. The challenge was to create affordable homes that aesthetically compete with surrounding luxury complexes. Coming home, feeling at home, and soft surroundings were important design themes.
The seven-storey, U-shaped building softens the rigid urban grid with rounded corners, pastel tones, and tactile materials. The base is clad in green glazed brick, while the rest of the façade has a wafer-thin cream-white plaster, evoking a Mediterranean feel. Triangular balconies, shifting direction per floor, give the building a playful, expressive identity.
The 175 compact two- and three-room apartments are efficiently laid out and filled with daylight; most have a balcony or roof terrace. Prefabrication enabled a focus on generous shared spaces: two welcoming entrances with round staircases, wide lift portals, PET-felt walls, and a richly designed courtyard.
The semi-open garden, by artist Kiki van Eijk and Sant en Co, merges nature, art, and architecture. Terracotta seating and ceramic lights reflect the building’s soft identity, creating a shared space where residents feel truly at home.
