The desire
In April 2016 Omniplan moved from Purmerend to the 8th floor (9,360 ft2) of the Piet Hein Building at the Piet Heinkade, Amsterdam. The old building lacked an open atmosphere because of the many doors separating different areas. The wish was clear: more openness and transparency to stimulate employees meeting up and working together to occur more naturally.
The result
In the new design existing modular walls were reused elsewhere to avoid unnecessary extra costs. The view of Amsterdam from the top end of the building is now where the spacious meeting area starts, with a hostess serving employees coffee. By covering the architectural centre core with wood cladding, it now appears to be a free-standing wooden block. This shell has several different functions, including comfortable sofas for informal consultations and spacious cupboards. The workstations are situated around the shell.
This versatile office environment was realised in eight weeks’ time thanks to excellent cooperation with competent parties in the field of buildings services engineering and interior construction.