Freebooter by GG-Loop: 2019 Best of Year Winner for Environmental Impact

In the 17th century, Dutch privateers called freebooters roamed the seven seas. It’s that maritime tradition that GG-loop principal and firm founder Giacomo Garziano and his team drew on for inspiration for their first designed and developed residential project, the aptly named Freebooter. Located on Zeeburgereiland, Amsterdam’s triangular island, the four-story structure consists of a pair of 1,300-square-foot apartments, each with two bedrooms. The structure, like the hull of a ship, is built with timber and steel, as well as glass, and was largely prefabricated off-site, allowing for a build time of only three weeks.

Garziano’s other guiding principle was biophilic design. “I see it as the key to truly great architecture,” he says. “We’re part of nature in a deep and fundamental way.” GG-loop conducted a year-round study of light conditions on the site to determine the optimal shape and position of the timber louvers to maximize both sunlight distribution and privacy. It’s ecologically focused in other ways, too. The building offsets more than 80 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to more than 400,000 miles of exhaust from a midrange car.

Project Team: Johan Beijers; Robbie Nijzen; Simone Peluso; Daniele Colombati; Jan-Willem Terlouw; Piergiorgio
Angius; Luis Cascales; Krzysztof Zinger.

> See more from the December/January 2020 issue of Interior Design