Nieuwsbericht
University of Amsterdam Science Park - Science in the polder
Netherlands 20-11-2009
Amsterdam, 19 November 2009
Having three architecture firms design one building complex? That seems like asking for trouble. However, the new complex of the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science shows that it is not necessarily the case. The three buildings that make up the complex each have their own character, but still interconnect seamlessly. Office furniture for the complex was partly developed using existing Ahrend products.
Three different architecture firms from Amsterdam worked on the new building for the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam: Rudy Uytenhaak Architectenbureau, Meyer & Van Schooten Architecten, and Architectuur Studio HH, a firm run by Herman Hertzberger. The entire complex offers space to 2500 students and 1500 staff members. Rudy Uytenhaak Architectenbureau, which in 2001 won the competition to design the complex, was the coordinating architect, and developed the workplace concept for the office landscape. In 2002, the university's board decided to commission three different firms due to the size of the project, but also to achieve a certain level of variation in the architectural design. The buildings designed by the three architecture firms are each recognizable as designed by different architects, but without the differences standing out too much.
More intensive collaboration
The faculty building has a total area of 60,000 square metres, making it the largest building at the new Science Park site, which is located in the Watergraafsmeer district of Amsterdam. The Science Park offers to international technological institutions and companies all the facilities they need, ranging from ICT and sports facilities to restaurants and hotels. A new railway station will also be opened there later this year. Architect Rudy Uytenhaak states on the complex in the Science Park newsletter: ‘This supersized building creates a dynamic urban meeting zone, while maintaining the peace and quiet of the polder'. The second phase of the Faculty of Science will be completed next year, which is also when all other science departments of the University of Amsterdam will move from the Roeterseiland site in East Amsterdam to the Science Park. The university is expecting science departments to strike up more intensive collaboration when they are based in one and the same building. Staff and students will have a range of different workstations at their disposal, where they can fully concentrate on their work or studies, or have meetings with colleagues or peers. Or just enjoy the view, because the large windows offer fine views of the Sint-Anna polder or one of the two courtyards.
Special furniture
Public facilities, such as the restaurant, library, and study areas, are located on the ground floor and the first floor, with office space spread out across the other floors. Interior architects Frank Langhorst and Joke Willekes, both of Rudy Uytenhaak Architectenbureau, drew up an interior design plan, and designed parts of the office furniture. Part of the office furniture, including cabinets and desks, was tailor-made by Ahrend on the basis of existing products. The round tables in the study centre that were especially designed for this project are linked up in such a way that they have the shape of atoms, which is, of course, a reference to the domain of the science faculties which will be using the building.
Flex office
Staff members each have their own workplace in a room for either one or two staff members, or they will share so-called work suites in open-plan offices. These open-plan offices can be closed off from the hallway area using semi-transparent plastic sliding walls, offering users the possibility of either fully closing themselves off from their surroundings or opening up to their surroundings. This gives the floors the open character of a flex office. It was quite a puzzle for Langhorst to create a space for everyone. He and his colleague Willekes found a solution in using differently sized work suites. These suites are separated from each other by double-sided walls of cabinets, mostly equipped with a whiteboard or a blackboard. These walls of cabinets were developed on the basis of the Ahrend 123 cabinet system.
These walls also contain lockers where people can store personal belongings. The walls of the cabinets are framed by solid bamboo, as are the tabletops. This is the first time Ahrend applies bamboo in a mass-produced product. Seeing as the concrete structure of the building is visible throughout the building, and the rooms have lowered ceilings, a lot of attention has gone into the acoustics of the open-plan work areas. All cabinets are equipped with perforated sliding doors, and acoustic table partitions and room dividers were developed especially for this project.
