Office building for Dutch financial services group ACHMEA Leiden in The Netherlands by VVKH Architecten

Article source: VVKH Architecten 

Achmea’s office building marks the entrance to Leiden town centre. Five grand natural stone stairwells and a colourful façade shape the face directed towards this country’s busiest railway line. The road runs under the building on the town side. Here, the twelve tree columns shape a unique avenue leading towards Leiden city centre. The buildings’ use of colour refers to the painting ’rhythm of a Russian dance´ of the artist Theo van Doesburg. In 1917 he founded the Dutch famous artistic movement ’The Stijl’  in this town.

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

• Architects: VVKH Architecten
• Project: Office building for Dutch financial services group ACHMEA Leiden
• Location: Leiden, the Netherlands
• Photography: Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie
• Client:  Leiden city council, Eurocommerce BV
• Contractor: Visser & Smit bouw bv, Papendrecht, the Netherlands
• Area: Office Facilities 32,500 m², Car Park 10,000 m²
  

  Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

The building is supported by twelve steel trees: columns separating from the tree trunk into twelve branches. The branches extend upwards into a diagonally oriented half-timbered structure on the second floor. Here the building widens into the 14,4 meters wide column-free storeys, housing office facilities.

The concrete shafts, 45 meters high, on the side of the railway track stabilise the building. Within these towers with a natural stone cladding, all vertical transport takes place. In addition to the lifts and staircases, all pipelines, sewage and air channels are located here. The shafts stabbing 10 meters above the building and provide space for the installations. Far away from all the traffic on the ground floor, fresh air is let into the building for ventilation purposes.

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

The primary purpose of the building’s architectural design is to create a comfortable urban area at ground level. The entrance hall, high, long and narrow, is located on the ground floor allowing the light to enter from all sides. The office storeys have been lifted and constricted downwards to ensure more light shines along the building onto ground level.

This large building, standing on its thin steel legs and with its glass skirting, hardly seems to touch the ground and is firmly integrated into the skyline of Leiden.

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

Image Courtesy © Thea van den Heuvel-Fotografie

Tags: Leiden, The Netherlands

Categories: Office Building, Office space, Offices

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