Dutch studio Olaf Gipser Architects has worked with housing cooperative BSH20A to create an apartment block in the Netherlands that aims to provide residents with a "communal, sustainable and healthy urban living" environment.

Named Stories, the 47-metre-high tower contains 29 apartments and communal living spaces that overlook the harbour at the former industrial district Buiksloterham.

Stories is an apartment block created by Olaf Gipser Architects

Stories, which also features a community cafe and a terrace topped by an urban farm, is shortlisted in the housing project category of the Dezeen Awards 2022.

Olaf Gipser Architects worked with the BSH20A housing cooperative to ensure a "grassroots, democratic decision-making process" for the project, and to develop a design that is intended to be both socially and environmentally sustainable.

The exterior is wrapped in a steel frame

While Stories' podium and core are made from concrete, the majority of the tower is built from cross-laminated timber (CLT).

The timber superstructure is wrapped in an external frame of white steel, which forms deep balconies and terraces.