The city of Amsterdam was worried that to little families with children would move to the Eastern Docklands, considering the high-rise at KNSM/Java. So for the twin islands Borneo-Sporenburg it decided for low rise.

In an attempt to create high building density, despite the low-rise, urban designer Adriaan Geuze designed special types of houses. He replaced the usual gardens by roof terraces and mini-patio’s. Moreover he planned 3 huge buildings in ‘the sea of low rise’, thus creating an urban setting and the desired high building density as well. A tourist highlight is a small canal with free parcels, where citizens could build their own house and look for an architect of their own choice, quite unusual in the western Holland.

Canal with 60 'free' parcels, Borneo.