The Couch

About this place

The Couch began as a practical problem: Tennisclub IJburg, founded on one of Amsterdam's new artificial islands in the east of the city, needed a clubhouse for its ten clay courts. MVRDV's response was to refuse the distinction between building and landscape. The roof of the 36-metre long structure is folded — rising at the rear northern face and dipping all the way down to ground level at the south-facing front — creating a bowl of stepped concrete seating that spans the building's full width and faces centre court. The 200-seat informal grandstand is not enclosed, not ticketed, and not reserved for members. It is open to the public 365 days a year at no charge, which shifts the building's identity from a private sports facility to a piece of public urban infrastructure. The interior is stripped back: changing rooms, kitchen, storage, and toilets occupy the end bays of the open volume, leaving the long middle clear and directly connected to the courts. The structure is sealed on the exterior with an EPDM hotspray in the same vermillion colour as the clay courts themselves, making the building read as an extension of the playing surface rather than a container placed alongside it. Cladding is FSC-certified wood. The choice of IJburg as site matters contextually: the new district was planned to eventually house 45,000 residents on artificial islands, and community anchors like The Couch were deliberately seeded to draw residents into a shared civic life before the neighbourhood reached critical mass.