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| Showcasing the Cool (Latest updates on Architecture/ Technology) |
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| ING Headquarters (Amsterdam, Netherlands) |
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| Location: |
Amstelveenseweg 500, Amsterdam, Netherlands (alongside the A10 highway Ringweg-Zuid) |
| Date: |
2002 |
| Architect: |
Meyer & Van Schooten Architecten |
| Purpose: |
Company Headquarters |
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More info: As a headquarters building, it is required to represent the ideals of the company, which are transparency, innovation, eco-friendliness, and openness. The shape of the building has earned a few nicknames for it - “shoe”, “space ship”.
This building is for the ING (banking) Group and is used as their headquarters. As a headquarters building, it is required to represent the ideals of the company, which are fast moving, transparency, innovation, eco-friendliness, and openness. |
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Meyer & Van Schooten Architecten were awarded the project after a competition that ING Group organized. A number of young Dutch architects were invited by ING Group to participate in the competition.
The main portion of the building is elevated off the ground by stilts that range in height between 9 to 12.5 meters. Due to the proximity to the A10 ring road (the main highway in Amsterdam), people traveling along it have a good view of the building. Also with elevated height the offices' view will not be obstructed the elevated A10 ring road.
The majority of the building has glass as the façade to give the building a high level of transparency and openness. In order to avoid heat loss or overheating as a result of the amount of glass on the façade, a double skin system is incorporated. The 2 layers of glass sandwich a layer of still air to control the temperature differences between the inside environment and the outside. This configuration also helps to reduce the noise coming in from the A10 ring road.
The building is 28 meters wide, 138 meters long and at the highest point of its 10 floors, 48 meters tall. The total site area is 5,600m2. ING House has a lobby, 250 seat auditorium, a foyer, restaurant, library, more than 800m2 of conference rooms and 160 parking spaces. |
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The inside of the building is home to an impressive art collection and about half the total office space is reserved for “flexible” work stations, which give employees the chance to change their working environment. Most employees also enjoy a view of one of the six inner gardens.
These gardens were designed by landscape architect Michael van Gessel and each has its own theme. The gardens are integrated into the design of the building and considered visual highlights. The lobby features a bamboo garden in a bed of moss and plates of Belgian blue limestone and the main path of Chinese granite that runs from the main entrance through the hall to a fifty-metre long quay in the water of the Nieuwe Meer.
The combination of the tilting stilts on the bottom and the overall shape of the building, it makes it look as if the building is in motion.
The shape of the building has earned a few nicknames for it - "shoe", "space ship", and it even has a resemblance to walking city in Archigram. No matter what the nickname, the building has definitely become one of the landmarks for the city. |
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