An informal, sturdy and stylish office building

Recently, in Rozenburg (The Netherlands), the new office building was completed for Qualm, a contracting firm for earthwork, road- and waterworks. The building and interior are designed by Sputnik Architecture Urbanism Research from Rotterdam.

The working method of the company was the starting point for the design of the building. On the one hand, there is a need for concentration workplaces. On the other hand, the company is organized horizontally and informal communication determines the successful operation of the company.

The staff has their own workstations in rooms with different sizes for the different departments. These areas have a radiant white, design.
Especially for informal consultations and meetings the usual standard office hallway is transformed into a 3D walkway. This is an attractive area in which voids with stairs connect the three floors of the building spatially. The floors, the ceilings, the stairs, the office windows and parapets are all made of Ash. This creates a contrast between the formal and the informal atmosphere in the building.

The building stands on the site where the company Qualm has long been established, in an industrial business park of the 1960s. The building fits in this robust context with a modestly designed façade. Behind the aluminum paneling an inventive, sustainable VRF air conditioning system is hidden. All piping and equipment are incorporated in the parapet, leaving no need for suspended ceilings in the offices.

The building is made with a structure of precast concrete columns and floors, which have surprisingly slim dimensions. This allowed the realization of three floors of the building within the maximum allowable building height.

For the interior Sputnik has, besides choosing the office furniture, designed fixed furniture elements, such as the reception desk, the kitchen / bar element in the restaurant and the meeting places on the floors.