Children run through the gardens, while their parents eat energy-neutral pizza at long tables with ingredients from the same garden. Restaurant Homestead will be a meeting place in Amsterdam Nieuw-West where cultures, flavours, healthy local food, local entrepreneurs and bio-based building come together. Apto and Vagabond won the tender for plot 13 at Tuinen van West.

Homestead Tuinen van West
Building a healthy green community through local food

Healthy food for everyone
The new sustainable restaurant Homestead will become the heart of the neighbourhood. There is 500m2 of horeca space to socialise and relax, where everyone is welcome. In the modern age it is essential to actively promote neighbourly socialisation, it seems like more and more neighbour cafes and community centres are being shutdown in favour for high rise developments, leaving nothing to replace them. At Apto Architects we are doing our part, to create new community spaces for people from all walks of live to come together. What better way is there for people to come together than over a meal. “We want to introduce as many people as possible to a healthy way of eating. Ingredients are grown on site when possible,” says Milan Bergh of Apto architects. “We are not only building a circular restaurant but also a sustainable community.” Where food used to be grown – in the Osdorperbinnenpolder – the old function returns. “It will be a real Dutch pizza, a ‘polder pizza’!”
“ It will be a real Dutch pizza, a 'polder pizza'! ”

Harvesting building materials
A windmill grinds the flour for the pizza crust. For the pizza oven, electricity is generated sustainably. The heat generated by the ovens is not lost, but rather it heats the building. The structure itself is circular; made from reused materials and dismantlable so it can be reused later. Exactly what Homestead will look like depends on which buildings will be demolished next year. “Window frames, floor slabs, beams; just like harvesting food, we will now harvest building materials”.

A sustainable step by investing yourself
Apto architects is setting a new standard for the hospitality industry with the circular restaurant. “The transition to circular economy is necessary. We work a lot in hospitality and see that this industry is lagging behind,” says Mark Halbmeijer partner at Apto. “Waiting or complaining is not our style. So we are taking the first step ourselves to show that it can be done. We don’t believe in just being architects. That’s why we develop and invest in pioneering places ourselves. Places like the Tuinen van West and also Kokomo on Zeeburgereiland are important to experiment. Only by doing, you can change and improve.”
