Almere 11 October 2023 – The striking Highnote residential tower was festively opened on 11 October. The apartment complex, consisting of 19 floors and a commercial plinth of about 1,000m2, will accommodate 157 rental apartments and 236 tenants. Of these, 66 apartments were implemented in the FRIENDS concept and 48 medium-rent apartments. Highnote thus responds to the high demand for affordable, city-centre housing for starters and, with its vibrant plinth function and outdoor spaces, provides an inspiring and social place for its tenants and visitors to the city.
It’s possible in Almere
The completion of Highnote marks a substantial contribution to the number of apartments within Almere’s city centre. Rockfield, area developer AM and the municipality joined forces and each went to great lengths to make this special project, with affordable city centre housing, possible. The project sets the tone for many developments to follow in the centre of Almere in the coming years. Highnote is proof that it can be done in Almere.
‘Almere has a lot of ambition when it comes to housing: we want to build a lot, build beautifully and build financially sound. Accelerating housing construction is top priority, to provide as many Almereans as possible with a roof over their heads. And we want to strengthen our city centre. The Highnote fits in well with that: 157 apartments, in a special building in a fantastic location. An asset for Almere!’, Julius Lindenbergh, alderman of the municipality of Almere.
‘Almere heeft veel ambitie als het gaat om woningbouw: we willen veel bouwen, mooi bouwen en financieel gezond bouwen. Versnelling van de woningbouw is topprioriteit, om zoveel mogelijk Almeerders een dak boven hun hoofd te bieden. En we willen ons stadscentrum versterken. De Highnote past daar goed bij: 157 appartementen, in een bijzonder gebouw op een fantastische locatie. Een aanwinst voor Almere!”, aldus Julius Lindenbergh, wethouder van de gemeente Almere. Martin van Nuland, director of project development AM Noordwest.
Affordable living in a close-knit community
With the realisation of 66 FRIENDS apartments, Highnote is responding to the housing needs of starters in the Almere housing market. In this concept, apartments are shared and thus the rent, making it possible for starters to live in A-locations in cities. Besides affordability, the FRIENDS concept is designed to form close-knit communities to respond to tenants’ living happiness as well. With the tried-and-tested Cohesion housing concept, Rockfield gives substance to building a strong community. Within this concept, tenants can use communal spaces and monthly events are organised to promote social interaction between residents and build a close-knit community.
All apartments are now fully rented out, showing that there is a clear need for this form of housing in the city.
‘With Highnote, we emphasise not only our commitment to affordable housing solutions, but also to social sustainability,’ said Edvard van Luijn, Commercial Director at Rockfield. ‘Our mission is to create living environments where people thrive and experience a sense of belonging.’
Mixed programme Highnote
Underlying the concept for Highnote was the desire of the Municipality of Almere and AM to combine affordable starter homes with functions that could contribute to the vibrancy of the city centre. Besides the mix of apartments and Friends apartments, the plan provides for a lively and multifunctional plinth that turns the former car park into a new energetic place in the city. There are also several semi-public outdoor spaces with their own atmosphere and design (the Court, the Yard and the Roof Garden). Living, working, staying and meeting flow smoothly together here.
‘What is special about this project is that the chosen method of construction immediately revealed the appearance of the building. Whereas in a traditional form of construction, work is often done from the inside out and the cladding is applied later, in Highnote it is precisely the other way round. In this way, Highnote precise literally rose out of the ground on this tight construction site. We are super proud of the end result, a new ‘landmark’ of Almere.’ said Niels Doodeman, Managing Director at Heddes Bouw Ontwikkeling.
Highnote came about from a good collaboration between area developer AM, Rockfield as investor and investor and the Municipality of Almere. The design comes from Studioninedots and Flux Landscape. Construction is in the hands of Heddes Bouw Ontwikkeling.
