Four rules define the shape of the building : 

1. A fan shape that allows for terraces as well as sheltered galleries to be included. The galleries serve for public circulation.

2. Duplex apartments grow larger in scale per level up. Duplexes because the upper floor is then freed of public circulation what allows for the insertion of 'bedrooms with a view' at both sides of the block.

3. A staircase construction that begins from the central entrance hall and that branches off per level ('a tree structure').

4. Flipbook. Stairs split, in between them [...]the series of apartments grow shorter and this increasingly per level upward. The odd series we have turned around in their orbit so that their terrace will face the inner courtyard where the water flows. We hope for a Piranesian -if not- a Venetian effect where a myriad of stairs is reflected in the canal.