The Anne van Buerenplein serves as the lobby for AvB Tower, where a hybrid programming of shops, lobby, restaurant, offices, lecture hall, and library–where the academic dweller finds a communicative atmosphere–when fluidly linked, can be seen as an extension of the 'commuter-leisure' concept currently emerging in the world's major metropolises. The first five floors provide space for this hybrid programming, while above, 400 spacious 'guest-rooms’ will function as student studios with floor-to-ceiling sliding yellow-tinted glass panels, thus providing views to the square, the skyline of The Hague, and the North Sea beyond. A flood of visual contact from within the steel tower out onto the the adjacent square will ensure that the tower's residents are provided a truly urban university living experience. Located next to the city's Central Station, at the intersection of urban envelope and square, the tower was designed to recognize its context while asserting its sculptural silhouette, its notion crystalized by the gleaming glass and aluminum façade–thus encouraging and creating an amplified ‘interiority’ within and around the Anne van Buerenplein.

Type
Housing, Retail, School

Location
Anna van Buerenplein
2595 BE The Hague
the Netherlands

Date of Design
2007-2010

Status
Under Construction

Expected Completion
Autumn 2013

Total Area
24.000 m2

Client
Fortress Projectontwikkeling BV

Architect
Wiel Arets, Rob Willemse, Joost Körver, Raymond van Sabben, Thorsten Schneider, Jelle Homburg, Jochem Homminga

Collaborators
Janosch Welzien, Ramon Alverez Roa, Martin Tessarz, Tobias Bamberg, Steffen Winkler, Carlatta Giacomin, Itziar Quiros