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- BOLD Tower — Amsterdam
An 80-metre residential tower in Amsterdam North with a net-positive energy balance — matte black BIPV panels that are the building’s identity, not a feature added to it
Amsterdam’s first net-positive residential tower — where ISSOL® Noctis Velvet panels define the building’s look and its energy balance in the same surface
A high-rise with character, made with guts — net-positive EPC, 361 residences, and a solar skin that is the architecture
BOLD rises 80 metres directly behind Amsterdam Central Station — an unmistakable presence on the city’s northern skyline. OZ Architects designed it around a precise ambition: sharp lines, dark tones, high-tech presence, and an energy performance that would set a new benchmark for residential towers in the Netherlands. The goal was not simply to be energy-neutral, but to exceed it — to produce more energy than the building consumes, year-round.
For the façade, the project team chose ISSOL® Noctis Velvet: a fully opaque, matte black BIPV panel with a satin-finish front glass that diffuses light rather than reflecting it. In a dense urban setting directly beside one of the country’s busiest transport nodes, glare control was as important as output. Noctis Velvet delivered both — a continuous, energy-generating skin that reads as deep, even black from every angle, with no hotspots, no surface variation, and no visual difference from the premium dark cladding the design called for. BOLD makes solar energy visible not as panels, but as architecture.
Three energy systems, one integrated envelope — BIPV façade, solar windows and rooftop PV combined to reach EPC −0.1209
- ISSOL® Noctis Velvet façade panels forming the primary cladding of the tower — fully opaque, matte black, monocrystalline PERC cells in a double-laminated safety glass construction; ~170 Wp/m² output from a vertical surface without compromising the architectural finish
- Matte satin-finish front glass: the defining feature that makes Noctis Velvet the correct choice for a dense urban high-rise — the textured surface diffuses light, eliminates glare for neighbours and street users, and gives the façade an even, velvet-like depth that standard glossy BIPV cannot achieve
- 1,800 m² of PowerWindows by PHYSEE integrated into the tower’s glazed surfaces — power-generating windows that complement the opaque BIPV façade panels, extending energy generation to the window zones without changing the visual character of the envelope
- Rooftop PV modules completing the system — the three technologies (Noctis Velvet façade, PowerWindows, rooftop PV) combined to produce the building’s total renewable energy output
- EPC of −0.1209: the net-positive energy result that places BOLD among the very few residential high-rises in the Netherlands to produce more energy than it consumes annually — a benchmark for the Dutch residential sector and a demonstration that a genuinely high-performance energy balance is compatible with premium architectural ambition
- 158 apartments and 203 student residences housed within the tower — BOLD demonstrates that the net-positive energy model is viable not only for institutional or commercial projects but for a mixed residential programme at 80 metres in one of Europe’s densest city centres
Why it fits: BOLD required a façade panel that would do two things simultaneously that standard BIPV cannot: deliver full, opaque coverage with no cell pattern visible at street level, and eliminate glare in a location — Amsterdam Central Station’s northern approach — where reflective surfaces affect tens of thousands of people daily. ISSOL® Noctis Velvet’s satin-finished front glass was the enabling specification: the textured surface diffuses incident light rather than reflecting it, giving the panel its characteristic matte depth while maintaining the high light transmission to the monocrystalline PERC cells beneath. The result is a façade that meets EN 12600 1B1 impact safety, IEC 61215/61730 electrical certification, and the glare requirements of a busy urban rail environment — while producing approximately 170 Wp per square metre from a vertical surface. At BOLD, Noctis Velvet is not the cladding with solar added. It is the cladding.
Parameters for rapid evaluation
| Parameter | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application | BIPV façade cladding | Fully opaque solar façade panels forming the primary cladding of an 80-metre residential tower |
| ISSOL® solution | ISSOL® Noctis Velvet | Matte black, fully opaque BIPV; satin-finish front glass; monocrystalline PERC cells; double-laminated safety glass |
| Panel output | ~170 Wp/m² | Vertical installation; optimised for diffuse and direct irradiation on north-facing Amsterdam elevations |
| Transparency | 0 % (fully opaque) | No cell pattern visible; continuous matte black surface — reads as premium dark cladding, not as a solar array |
| Surface finish | Matte / Satin | Satin-finished front glass diffuses light; eliminates glare in dense urban and transport-adjacent environments |
| Cell type | Monocrystalline PERC | High-efficiency cells; black EVA/PVB interlayer for full opacity and visual consistency |
| Safety standard | EN 12600 · 1B1 | Impact-rated laminated safety glass; suitable for all façade zones including low-level and publicly accessible areas |
| Certifications | IEC 61215 / 61730 | Full electrical and safety certification for building-integrated PV |
| EPC result | −0.1209 | Net-positive energy balance; ISSOL® Noctis Velvet façade combined with 1,800 m² PHYSEE PowerWindows and rooftop PV |
| Programme | 158 apartments + 203 student residences | Mixed residential; 361 units in total; 80 m height |
| Co-systems | PowerWindows · Rooftop PV | PHYSEE PowerWindows: 1,800 m² of power-generating glazing; rooftop PV: standard modules completing the generation portfolio |
| Glare control | Reduced reflection | Satin finish specified for rail-adjacent, high-footfall urban location; meets requirements of city planners and transport operators |
| Architect | OZ Architects | Solar façade panels integral to the architectural concept from the outset — not added post-design |
| Developer | VORM | Amsterdam North, behind Central Station |
| Completed | 2022 | Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
“We didn’t want to design a sustainable building that looked sustainable. We wanted to design a building with genuine presence — one that happened to produce its own energy because the skin that gives it that presence is doing both things at once. The matte black panels are not a declaration of green intent. They are the architecture. The energy is the consequence.”
BOLD Tower — Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2022 · OZ Architects / VORM
BOLD in detail — the matte black BIPV skin from street level to close up
