What does the office of the future look like? Kraaijvanger looks ahead in the magazine 'future offices' with fascinating interviews, state of the art projects and some fragments from life of (future) users.

1. future offices
Magazine
kraaijvanger

2. Craftsmanship, innovative and full service
We create environments that move people, where
people work better, learn better, and enjoy themselves
more. We create environments such as public spaces,
public buildings, and urban districts. These are places
where unique encounters occur, where beautiful
memories are made, and where important decisions
are taken.
We are actively involved from the initial sketch to the
opening. We still have the same carpenter’s work ethic
and focus on accuracy as we did at our founding in
1927, combined with all the knowledge, adaptability,
and vision we’ve developed since then.
In creating these environments, we take our inspiration
from socially relevant themes. We want to improve liveability in cities, help people to work effectively and with
enjoyment, inspire children to learn and help them
have fun while doing it, design buildings that are like
trees, make existing buildings more sustainable, relieve
our clients of worry, and create, connect, and inspire
design teams.
In order to create added value for our clients, we focus
on six specific areas:
1. complex urban projects
2. new working concepts
3. learning environments
4. cradle-to-cradle construction
5. transformation
6. integrated contracts
adress Watertorenweg 336, PO Box 4003,
3006 AA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
phone +31 (0)10 498 92 92
e-mail mail@kraaijvanger.nl
website www.kraaijvanger.nl

3. future offices
Magazine
06
12
Table of content
20
04 NEWS
06 Cityhall Almelo
10 Interview Vincent van der Meulen
12 Ciyhall Venlo
18 Interview Daniela Schelle
20 Headquarters Capgemini
26 Health Ensurance Company VGZ
28 Headquarters Rabobank Nederland
28

4. NEWS
Record number of visitors museum Kranenburgh
The reopened museum Kranenburgh
Bergen - designed by Kraaijvanger - has
already welcomed a record number of
visitors.
Since its official opening on 12 November last year, more than 12,000 people
visited the museum. In the old museum
Kranenburgh recieved annually25,000
to 30,000 visitors. “This is above all
expectations,’’ says director Kees Wieringa.
Prior to the opening exhibition WONDER Kranenburgh showed the work of
photographers Ata Kandó and Hellen
van Meene. The exhibition attracted a
large audience and put the number of
visitors to 20,000 from September 1 to
January 1, 2014.
WONDER can be visited until
March 30.
Breathing and absorbing concrete
Can clay replace cement? This is the
question Dirk Jan Postel, Philippe Courcelles and Hans Köhne asked themselves. The answer: not quite, but 60%
in the case of low strength concrete.
They developed the so-called ‘soft’
concrete in the context of the Case
Studies Prefab Beton organized by Cement & Concrete Centre. Four teams
came up with several new applications
of concrete.
According to Dirk Jan Postel innovation of precast concrete can go in two
directions. First of all Technological like
high strength concrete. Or ecological, whereby the hardness of concrete
matches the softness of nature.
By adding clay Postel, Courcelles and
Köhne soften concrete.
The advantages of using of clay in
stead of cement are:
- Better moisture management as clay
absorbs moisture
- Flexibility, as the clay is easy to remove and replace
- Clay gives the hard cold concrete and
a warm atmosphere
The result is a breathing, absorbing and
acoustic façade consisting of concrete
and clay sections. You can think of different forms like
alternating strips of concrete and clay
or an organic pattern.
Several case studies were featured on
Gevel 2014.

5. Townhall Almelo under construction
"Hundreds of white and black balls
disappear in the reinforcement cages
of the floors of the new Almelo city
hall." Alex J. de Haan photographed
the proces. His gorgeous photograph made the Cobouw of last 6
December."Weavers secure the airfilled balls in the floor system, which
saves weight because they have to do
less concreting.”
Construction is progressing steadily.
The completion is expected late next
year.
Kraaijvanger found new partners
From January 1, 2014 Kraaijvanger has two new
partners: Annemiek Bleumink (1979 ) and Vincent van der
Meulen (1982) Kraaijvanger partners. Bleumink is especially dedicated to preserve existing buildings. Last year is
finised the the Groenhorst College in Barneveld, Het Dok
in Rotterdam and as a project architect the Early Childhood Center in Wassenaar. Van der Meulen is specialized
in sustainable innovations and is now working on town
hall Almelo, the RDW office in Veendam and the municipal
office Venlo.
The partner group now consists out of Dirk Jan Postel,
Hans Goverde, Annemiek Bleumink and Vincent van der
Meulen with Daniela Schelle as associate partner. Hans van
Schuylenburch stays connected as advisor. The new partner
group is ready for the future and aims to let as many people as possible as long as
possible enjoy her designs.

6. project
Cityhall Almelo
The new City Hall of Almelo is situated on a new square along the water in a
green setting. It is an example for sustainable public buildings as it has a
BREEAM-NL Excellent certificate.
All representative functions are placed in the low rise
building. An inviting public hall guides the pedestrian
route from the city centre to the central station of Almelo.
A monumental staircase leads to the council chamber on
the first floor, where large windows offer a panoramic
view on the surroundings. Here are also the administrative areas and the conference centre situated. The offices
are located in the towers, arranged around a communal
open space which functions as a communal meeting area.
The split level floors are connected by stairs and create an
attractive connected and diverse working environment.
Parking is solved on the roof of the low rise, which is
mainly executed as a green roof. The parking deck accommodates approximately 100 cars.The innovative composite
façade of the towers protects the interior against the sun.

8. Jacco Selles As interior designer I’m responsible for the entire interior of cityhall Almelo. I’m involved from the first sketch to the implementation. All the colors and materials, both architectural and
interior, are carefully matched. My goal is to make the building and the interior as a whole. Openness and transparency play a major role in the design of cityhall Almelo. A good design can only be
achieved with an enthusiastic client. In this case we are lucky to have one, which means that the initial
sketches are going to be reality!
Patrick Keijzer I was responsible for the cost estimates of the ideas and elaborations of city hall
Almelo. During the process several variations were calculated. One of the variants was the to cancel
the top floor. In the end the building is realized lower than first designed. The project is out to tender
within budget.
Very special about the design is the parking facility on the roof of the civic center which can be
reached by car lift. Besides that the façade is made out of plastics and the office floors are staggered.
David Hess Together with Vincent van der Meulen I was the project architect of city hall Almelo. I
was involved from the tender to the final design. One of the main challenges was to solve the spacial
puzzle: what’s the best place for the public hall, the council chamber, offices, archives and parking?
I was also concerned with the façade design which is based on a strong dichotomy per tower with a
more closed southern façade and a transparent northern façade.
Most stiking about the building I find the parking on top of the basement, the large,
sloping façade elements in two colors and the split level floors of the two towers.
Vincent van der Meulen Cityhall Almelo is a very special project to me as I was born in Almelo.
As the lead designer of our design team I had the overall responsibility for this project. For me this
meant being involved from the conceptual beginning to the last detail-decisions. I had the pleasure to
work within our design team, which is full of talent and experience. One of the most important parts
of my role is to keep close contact with the clients, understand them better than they understand
themselves. So we can anticipate on their future demands and wishes.
For the office concept we have created a program of requirements together with the client on how
their future workplace can be more effective, sustainable and fun. This resulted in a building of a
1000sm2 smaller (more effective) than they expected; a marvellous state-of-the-art working environment placed in two dynamically connected towers. The result strikes the perfect balance between
being ‘one organiszation’ and the intimacy and diversity that is needed for an inspiring working
environment.
The project had a very complicated political dimension. We had to supporte our client intensively in
making this project feasible within the political context. We have reached an incredible cost-effectiveness realizing a very sustainable building (BREEAM excellent) which seemed impossible for the given
budget. But we made it happen. The result is a city hall that is hyper-accessible and invites people
more than ever to participate and be part of the cities future. Just like what good city hall should be.

10. Vincent van der Meulen
“It’s performance, stupid!”
“Good architecture takes our world
view and our social values and
concerns and crystallizes them into a
physical, permanent building.”
According to Vincent van der Meulen,
this means that buildings are a
snapshot in time of the constantly
developing spirit of the age. By 2050,
there will likely be nine billion
people living on the earth, the
average age will be nine years older
than it is now, 70% of the world’s
population will live in cities, and the
world will need 70% more food than
it does now. What does this mean for
the ways in which we live, work, and
enjoy ourselves?

11. interview
What will be the effect of the future scenario
you describe on the way we work?
“In order to keep up with human progression, we will
need to work smarter, harder, and longer. People will have
to be able to be highly productive until they are seventy.
Education and health care will take an extremely important role in this regard. Large top-down infrastructures
will be difficult to maintain. Innovations in technology and
systems will be necessary in order for nine billion people to
live on the planet in increasing prosperity.”
What role will architecture take in this?
“Buildings will have to contribute to this. They will have to
produce and recycle scarce resources like drinking water,
heat, cooling, electricity, clean air, raw materials, and
food.”
“In 2050 buildings will be active nodes in a complex smart
grid which has the structure of the internet. Buildings
will not be self-sufficient, but they will be specialized in
producing a scarce substance and will earn money doing
so. The smart grid will make it possible to value, exchange,
and distribute (as locally as possible) resources like
energy and water. The specialization of buildings will result
in remarkable new architecture. I expect things like fully
energy-absorbing buildings which store as much sunlight
as possible, façades which produce food and algae, waterpurifying foundations, and roofs which rotate to face the
sun so as to generate as much electricity as possible.”
In what way will these producing buildings
be used?
“The boundaries in time and space between working,
living, culture, and recreation will be blurred even further.
It will be possible to work anywhere and at any time, but
people will primarily work both in rooms and with technology designed to enhance performance. This means
that buildings and the rooms within them will need to be
adaptive and diverse. The senses will be stimulated so as
to create exactly the right circumstances for the desired
performance. Only the most adaptive organizations and
buildings will survive, so flexibility will be essential.”
“By this time, it will be possible to print completely new
interiors in three dimensions using mobile robot arms. It
may even be possible to print completely new buildings
in this way. The raw materials used for three-dimensional
printing will be reusable. This will make it possible to
create new spatial and sensory settings inexpensively,
sustainably, and quickly. Lighting, screens, chairs, and
installations will be smart and will communicate with each
other. They will be leased on short-term contracts rather
than purchased. In this way the building will become a
performance-enhancing raw material bank which is
replenished with increasing frequency.”
To what extent will these buildings also
contribute to the well-being of humans?
“In 2050, the scientific study of happiness will be very
active, constantly presenting new discoveries, and will
have proven that materialism brings more emptiness than
happiness. Major factors in long-term happiness will be
proven to be the experience and creation of beauty,
nature, gaining new insights, health, great diversity in
types of personal relationships, and experiencing unique
moments and encounters.”
“To promote more diversity, every city will have a major
ecological structure. Live organisms and growing
matter will be used as foundations, façades, and furniture.
In part because of advances in biochemistry, the
boundaries between nature and the artificial will be
blurred. Building materials will be chosen for their positive
impact on the environment or perhaps for their ability to
purify the air.”
“Because of increasing digitization, contact with people
will be ubiquitous. This will give new meaning to physical
encounters and privacy, two highly valued yet scarce social
phenomena. Special spaces will be created in buildings to
this end. For instance, there will be privacy rooms where
you can go to relax and where there will be no electronic
equipment. Buildings will be places for physical, real-life
encounters, the connective tissue of society.”
What is your ultimate dream for the future?
“That research will discover the basic rules behind the
experience of ugliness. This will make it possible to slowly
eliminate all ugliness from the built environment and to
replace it with more beautiful buildings or with nature. But
I think that the secret of beauty will unfortunately remain
a mystery for a long time.”

12. project

13. Cityhall Venlo
The brief for the new City Hall presented a unique challenge in the form of
stringent sustainability requirements set by Venlo municipality, which is the
first region in the world to seek full implementation of the Cradle-to-Cradle
principles. This resulted in an unique design process and an extraordinary (visionary) building that combines a comfortable working environment with sustainable innovations.
The project incorporates several strategies to guarantee
sustainability: the heavily polluted air from the adjacent
road is cleaned by the building and cooled down with the
help of the Maas River and the underground car park; the
offices and glass house generate heat for the surrounding
homes by implementation of a geothermal heat pump;
rain water will be collected and used, then cleaned and
released into the Maas. The building will be mainly constructed out of wood.
The new City Hall combines several municipal services
that currently are scattered all over town in one open,
accessible complex. The lay out of the building is efficient
and includes offices, a plaza, a public hall with exhibition
spaces, meeting rooms and an underground parking. The
public hall located on the ground floor offers a view on
the river Maas and its flood plains. The work places are
situated in the tower.

14. The challenge for the design of cityhall Venlo is to
realize a zero energy building of considerable size in a
compact urban setting. Our aims:
• EPC is 50% less than legally required
• 1.000m2 PV-panels generate energy - in
combination with sun screens it would be possible
to reach a surplus of energy
• zero-energy in 2021
Another ambition is to create a pleasant and comfortable
working climate. The lay out of the building invites to
movement. It brings light, air and views into the building.
And it encourages communication and exchange of
information. The materials and the plants contribute to a
healthy climate, promote good and sustainable responsible
business and raise awareness.
• building lay out encourages movement and

sun screen
generating electricity
acoustic provisions
in ceiling
daylight optimization
interior green
improving air quality
and humidity
daylight protection
view
awareness printing habits,
energy consumption
individual adjustable
temperature
LED lighting
300lux basic 500
lux desk
basic heat
Users can determine their workplace climate themselves and will receive information about their
energy consumption through the wireless network.

15. natural ventilation
operable parts
pv-panels
daylight optimizing
daylight reflects deeper into
the building
light protection
biofoam
Rc=5,0
green façade
ABS
cloths
3-layered glass
façade
biocomposite
zinc
wood
mosa tiles
green
fibre board
walls
glass
floors
C2C
concrete
construction
concrete colomns
triple glass
mgtherm heatmirror

16. view
window
towards city
meeting
stairs, vides &
elevators
green house
collaborating
plaza
roof terrace
views
views
working
patio
24 h.
diversity on workfloor
special places
bicycle parking

17. Working inside the office
outside on the terrace
Fragment:
The year is 2016. After a cold winter, May brings spring
with it. Joost is whistling cheerfully as he bicycles to work
with the wind at his back. He’s a civil servant working for
the Municipality of Venlo. The weather is fantastic. In the
distance, Joost can see the spring-green façade of the
municipal offices. As he cycles closer, he sees a blackbird
darting off to feed its young.
Joost is proud to work in a building with a façade that
purifies the air by changing CO2 into oxygen and which
also offers space for biodiversity. It’s a building that acts
like a tree. As one of the future users, he was actively
involved in the building’s development. Kraaijvanger and
the C2C-Centre worked together to find ways to ensure
that everything that was put into the building would
come out in such a way that it could be used again, from
energy, air, and water to building materials and products.
The goal was to create a zero-waste building.
But on a day like today, no matter how proud Joost is of
his job and the building he works in, he’d rather be outside. He looks at the conservatory, his favourite place to
work on beautiful days. There, you feel almost like you’re
outside even though you’re inside. There you can feel the
sunshine warm your skin and you can hear the blackbirds
singing.
What luck - it looks like there are workstations free in the
conservatory! Joost puts his bicycle in the bicycle rack and
hurries inside in a cheerful mood.

18. Daniela Schelle
“Working together is more than just
sitting next to each other”

19. interview
With her designs, Daniela Schelle aims to help people to work effectively and
with enjoyment. ‘What that means is allowing employees to choose their work
activities and facilitating their ability to perform their work.’ She believes that
the time is right for work concepts which focus on supporting forms of collaboration instead of focusing on the individual. “Working together is more than
just sitting next to each other for eight hours a day.”
What trends in work processes can you see in
the assignments you receive these days?
“First of all, there is a clear increase in project-based collaboration in multidisciplinary teams, often in combination
with external partners. In order to answer this need spatially, it is important to look at the ideal collaborative process. This consists of short brainstorming sessions without a
fixed agenda, creative workshops in which participants can
also work with physical materials, and brief peer discussions and moments of reflection carried out in a standing
position to promote flexibility and creativity. The process
of arriving at results can be accelerated through the use
of flexible settings with digital support in a single room. I
want to stimulate people to break their set habits of thinking and act adaptively. Every phase in the collaborative
process calls for a different, specifically designed space.”
“Another trend is that users are becoming more and more
mobile and flexible through the use of personal devices.
They are less and less dependent on specific facilities. As
a result, they can choose to work in the most appropriate
environment in terms of atmosphere, level of comfort,
level of personal control of resources, and of course the
availability of electrical outlets.”
Can you give us some examples of these specific
spaces?
“One interesting case is the brainstorming room. The purpose of brainstorming is to let go of formal behaviour and
think creatively. For this to be stimulated, people have to
feel comfortable in a space but at the same time they can’t
be distracted. This calls for a rather home-like setting with
as little furniture and appliances as possible. For instance,
it’s preferable for people to stand while brainstorming,
without any tables to hide behind. At most, there could be
standing chairs for employees to lean against. At the same
time, there should not be many surfaces where people can
put stacks of paper, but employees should have somewhere to put their notepad and a cup of coffee.”
“Another specific space for project-based work is the
hybrid meeting room or “Group Decision Room,” which
is halfway between a meeting room and an atelier. The
emphasis here is on self-directed work and the possibility
to work next to each other on laptops and simultaneously show each other intermediate results on a common
screen.”
Doesn’t the design of specific spaces contradict
the demand for flexible use?
“While I am convinced of the importance of functional
diversity, I am also aware of the advantages of a principle
of generic layout with interchangeable components. In my
designs, I endeavour to achieve flexibility through spontaneous use and relevance for the future. Human beings
are by nature adaptive and flexible; and structural features
such as an excess of installations cannot match this flexibility. That’s why it’s a good idea not to design every room
for a specific purpose. For instance, some meeting rooms
are excellent candidates for being given a generic layout.”
Collaboration can sometimes arise spontaneously. How do you take that into account?
“I always try to find a clever and clear organization of the
floor plan, so that workspaces link up with meeting areas.
By keeping the boundaries between both areas as vague
as possible, I allow employees to come together naturally. They’re not shut up in cubicles all day, but they are
constantly moving through the building. A sophisticated
system of ‘trails’ connects the various technical areas, the
activity-based spaces, and the central areas like the restaurant. This creates clear orientation in a half-open structure.
A meandering pattern of open and enclosed spaces offers
privacy for quiet workspaces and areas to meet, while the
lines of sight create visual contact.”

20. project
Headquaters Capgemini, Utrecht
Capgemini gave the interior architects Daniëla Schelle and Leendert Spreij the
exciting, challenging task of creating a new head office with a future-proof,
sustainable, and open layout which is capable of increasing and decreasing in
capacity as needed. Because of the use and reuse of sustainable materials, the
interior has been awarded the internationally recognized BREEAM
sustainability certificate.
auteur Sanne van Egmond

21. “Capgemini’s goal was to have a feeling of connectedness
in a single environment instead of being split up over three
office buildings. But the building in which this needed
to be achieved had been designed for various users and
therefore was intended to be split up into smaller offices.
Our familiarity with the new work concepts, along with
the implementation of a few essential changes, enabled us
to create the openness Capgemini was looking for,” says
the architect Daniëla Schelle.
“Everything comes together in the restaurant on the first
floor. The restaurant is in a two-storey-high space with
horizontal and vertical lines of sight. The use of wood
and glass creates a warm, open, welcoming feel,” adds
her colleague, Leendert Spreij. The building is inviting and
dynamic. Schelle continues, “We created movement by
creating connections and lines of sight. Dead-end corridors
were eliminated, because they isolate parts of the building.
In addition, no employee has a permanent workspace. This
encourages them to be more flexible and eliminates the
development of little territories.” The addition of a glass
pedestrian bridge through the atrium ensures maximum
connectedness.
Openness
Schelle en Spreij intended to create open staircases on
every storey, but logistics and cost considerations meant
that it was only possible to build an open staircase from
the ground floor to the first storey. The other staircases
have been made as open as possible, making them informal meeting spaces. The building’s exterior has two main
sides: a warm side facing the city and a cool, businesslike
side facing the motorway. This division is continued in the
interior. “For instance, we placed the carpet tiles on the
motorway side directly behind one another; while on the
city side, the carpet tiles create a pattern of blocks which
reflects the busy city life,” Spreij explains.
Schelle adds, “The two sides also differ in terms of the atmosphere and how the light falls. On one side, the feeling
is cool and dynamic; while on the other, it’s more relaxed
and warmer.” The colours and materials used reflect this.
For instance, on the city side there are yellow sofas where
it’s possible to work on your laptop or have one-on-one
conversations.
Reuse
A number of elements in the new interior were taken from
the former offices, like the green sofas, the partition walls,
the doors, and the desks. Spreij says, “The client requested

22. that we reuse as much as possible. You have to get up
very close before you can see that the partition walls are
not entirely new. We coated the old doors, made of dark
speckled aluminium, with foil, and we placed half-height
walls between the adjustable desks. This creates a calmer
look.”
Workstations
The entire building has been organized according to the
principles of the ‘new way of working’. “A great many
Capgemini employees work on location, so they’re not
often at the head office. But when they are here, there’s a
workstation for them. They can choose the best working
environment based on what they’ve come to do,” Schelle
explains.
Because the number of people in the building at any one
time varies, the 1200 existing workstations can easily be
increased to 1400. In addition, the presence of secondary
workstations means that at peak moments, there’s room
for as many as 1700 employees to work at once. “And because the furniture isn’t fixed, it’s relatively easy to adapt
the layout or replace the furnishings,” Spreij concludes.
Projectdata
Headquarters Capgemini
client
Capgemini Nederland, Utrecht
location
Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht
desing exterior
Ibelings van Tilburg architecten, Rotterdam
design interieur
Kraaijvanger, Rotterdam
Contractor
BAM Utiliteitsbouw, Utrecht
Gross floor area
21.000 m2
Finished
April 2013

23. Daniela Schelle (Essen, 1965) studied at the Fachhochschule Düsseldorf. Architect and mentor Mart
van Schijndel introduced her in the Netherlands. She
is convinced that in an inspiring living and working
environment, the building, the people and the interior
form a dynamic whole. As an associate partner at
Kraaijvanger she specialized in the integral design of
interiors and implementing new work concepts.
Leendert Spreij (Utrecht, 1968) studied at the Willem de Kooning Academy Advanced Studies Interior
Architecture Rotterdam. In 1999 he graduated the
Master programme Retail & Communicatie Design.
Being a perfectionist, he is a highly ambitious person
who thrives on constantly improving himself and is
consistently setting himself new challenges. He works
well off his own initiative but also perform well as an
integral part of a team. He is also organised and works
most efficiently. Some other characteristics; critical,
sensitive, creator and maker, seasoned go-getter, allrounder, analytical, attention to detail, results-oriented, resourceful, advisory, accurate, precise, disciplined,
flexible, responsible, reliable, customer-oriented.

24. Work everywhere & meet at the office

25. Fragment:
Roos thinks she’s entered a hotel lobby rather than the
offices of her employer, Capgemini. Right away she picks
out where she’ll be sitting when she has to write a report.
Previously, she liked to go to a little coffee house in the
city centre. The clinking of cups, the noise of the coffee
grinder, and the murmur of the other guests helped her
concentrate. But she can find all of that here, too. Plus
the chairs are more comfortable - and the coffee is free!
At the same time, this is an ideal place for meeting her
business contacts. The meeting points, the auditorium,
the professional meeting rooms, and the restaurant offer
plenty of opportunities for holding meetings. She takes
the glass stairs, crosses the bridge in the auditorium, and
goes off to explore the rest of the building. A clear internal path takes her past half-open workspaces, atriums,
and small meeting areas. Each space has been designed
with a specific activity in mind: brainstorming, working
on projects, or reaching decisions. In one room, she has a
view of the cars speeding past on the A2, and in another
room she can see the city centre of Utrecht.
She had expected she’d feel lost in the large open spaces,
but the reality couldn’t be further from that. Variety,
aids to orientation, and colour nuances create different
environments, each with its own mood. She also enjoys
the fact that she runs into all kinds of colleagues whom
she had previously only seen during the company Christmas party. The place seems designed to help people meet
each other.

26. project
Health insurance company VGZ, Eindhoven
Can you create a greater unity betwoon the individual work areas and meeting
facilities in the existing builing? That was the question Kraaijvanger stood for.
The answer: non-persons-specific work places, meeting spaces, brainstorming
rooms and congregation areas. The floor planks are used to encourage greater
cooperation
The eye-catching patio garden can be likened to an oasis
in the urban environment around the station. The natural
and green image also reflects VGZ’s brand identity: natural
optimism. Cradle-to-cradle materials were used for the
floors; a natural pallet with a natural appearance. They
compliment the garden: lively colors without any real patterns.

28. project
Headquaters Rabobank Nederland, Utrecht
The brief for the 76.000 m2 extension of the existing Rabobank office complex
in Utrecht was clear: highly sustainable architecture, a modern office concept,
and a high level of transparency.The entire complex has been designed as a
single campus area.

30. At street level a covered pedestrian area stretches along
the entire length of the site, unifying the new and the
existing buildings. The high rise consists of two transparent 105 meter high towers, placed at a slightly different
angle, connected by a glass façade which wraps itself as
a delicate veil around the two towers. The glass facade
consists of a natural ventilated double skin panelling with
a ship lapped external skin.
The clever structural design of the high rise creates a relatively large amount of office space: by
connecting the towers, the size of the cores are reduced,
offering more work space. The floors are divided into
compartments of 3 or 4 office layers with own additional
facilities like a pantry. So called communication stairs
provide quick access to the different levels within each
compartment. Large voids stretching over 4 or 5 floors at
the central core of the building allow for maximum daylight and open views.
Projectdata Headquarters Rabobank Nederland
Client
Rabobank Nederland, Utrecht
Interior design
Sander architecten
Advisor working concept
Veldhoen + company
Contractor
Bouwcombinatie Heijmans / Van Eesteren
Start construction
2008
Opening
2011
Gross floor area
56.000 m2
The 6 meter high lively central plaza that forms the main entrance of the new complex, evokes a city feel with squares, neighbourhoods and little streets. Photograher Luuk Kramer

31. The building facilitates a new way of working - independent of time and place, easily adapting to the ever changing working
requirements. Photographer Luuk Kramer

32. Courtyard Headquarters Capgemini. Photographer Ewout Huibers