WoZoCo's - Ookmeerweg - Oklahoma

The WoZoCo apartments (also known as Oklahoma) are situated in the Amsterdam district of Nieuw-West (part Osdorp). They serve as a home for the elderly and are a special architectural site. On various levels of these gallery flats, blocks that are part of the apartments, are attached to the building, seemingly defying gravity.

Innovative solution
Located on the Ookmeerweg and Reimerswaalstraat, the WoZoCo apartments were designed by the architects MVRDV, to balance the demands of the community to deal with the significant increases in density necessary to support the growing population, while retaining as much of their open green space as possible.

Hanging apartments
The Het Oosten Housing Association wanted to build 100 residences for the elderly on the site. But due to strict zoning regulations only 87 units could fit adequately onto the site. The solution the architects found was to cantilever the units off the North facade giving the impression of them precariously hanging off the glass gallery space.