The Couch

The new MVRDV project is located inside IJburg, a new expansion area to the east of Amsterdam. Developed on six artificial islands and populated by 16,000 inhabitants, this district supposed to host other new 18,000 homes to reach a total amout of 45,000 residents. IJburg Tennis Club is one of the many initiatives to attract people to the area, such as the beach at Blijburg aan Zee. The tennis club, currently counts 1100 members, has 10 clay courts and a tennis school. As the zoning for the area allowed space for a tennis club, but a building could not be built quickly enough, the courts were made and a temporary facility installed. MVRDV’s design will now fill this gap with an iconically functional building which provides both a viewing platform and a club overlooking the water. The aim of the architects was to create a building that works as a central gathering for the area, completely accessible, open to the public 365 days a year and free of charge. Not a private club, but a meeting place for young and old, where you can grab a coffee and a snack, meet with friends, or even just check your emails. A living room for IJburg, where the building becomes a part of the community like piece of street furniture. The club house is a long open volume with services on either side such as dressing rooms, a kitchen, storage and toilets. The main space is multifunctional, so it can be used for the club’s many events. The roof dips down towards the south side and is raised towards the north up to a height of seven meters, creating an informal tribune. The concrete construction is clad with FSC-certified wood while the outside fully sealed with an EPDM polymer hotspray in the same colour and texture as the clay tennis courts. The energy efficiency and sustainability are guaranteed by the use of less glass surface on the south façade, the natural ventilation during the summer as well as the wide glass front to the north side which allows extensive natural lighting and provides a view out over the waters of the IJ-lake.

Project information
Role of MVRDV: Lead Architect
Client: TC IJburg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Program : 322 sqm tennis club and viewing platform
Design team information
Design: MVRDV, Rotterdam
Design team: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries with Renske van der Stoep, Pepijn Bakker, Arjen Ketting, Sanne van der Burgh, Cristina Gonzalo and Rosa Rogina
Co-architect: Studio Bouwhaven, Barendrecht, Netherlands
Advisors / consultants        
Structural Engineer : ABT, Velp, Netherlands
Contractor: Romijn Bouw, Kockengen
Illustrations: MVRDV