News

• 29/04 2026

  KAAN Architecten appointed lead architect for Schiphol’s long-term investment programme

  Royal Schiphol Group has appointed KAAN Architecten as lead architect for the multi-year investment programme that will reshape the airport over the coming decade. The role carries responsibility for developing and safeguarding the design vision — the framework that gives coherence, continuity, and intelligence to the work of the wider team delivering it. The new role builds on KAAN Architecten’s ongoing relationship with Schiphol, beginning in 2017 in the KLAIR joint venture, with work on the Area South development.

  Schiphol is a one-terminal airport, and that idea is and remains the foundation of everything that follows. It is not a single building, but a system of halls, lounges, piers, baggage systems, security systems, passport controls, and the connections between them — operating as one and reading as one. The investment touches every part of that system, from check-in and security to the piers, and extends across the full landside passenger areas, and parking facilities. The aim is to improve the quality of the airport and to provide more space and comfort for travellers. The task of the lead architect is to extract the DNA of Schiphol — found in its purest form in the original 1960s design — and to use that as the founding part of a narrative under which the work of the next decade, designed by different hands and delivered through separate contracts, comes together as a coherent whole.

  The work will be delivered alongside Paul de Ruiter Architects, LVZJA (Luis Vidal + architects and ZJA I Architects & Engineers), and Beacon (NACO, Netherlands Airport Consultants and Benthem Crouwel Architects) as airport consultant. KAAN Architecten’s responsibility is to hold the whole — to ensure that the parts read as one continuous narrative.

  “Our role as lead architect is to give a decade of work, by several authors, a shared intelligence. A building narrative: an idea drawn from the place itself, that holds across time and across hands.”

  — Kees Kaan, founding partner, KAAN Architecten

  KAAN Architecten congratulates Paul de Ruiter Architects, LVZJA, and Beacon on their appointments, and looks forward to beginning the work together.

  The appointment follows a European tender. Work begins this year and will unfold over the coming decade.

• 01/04 2026

  EPFL’s Advanced Science Building receives building permit

  Located near the EPFL Innovation Park on the southern side of the campus in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Advanced Science Building has obtained its building permit, with construction set to start in spring 2026 and continue until 2030.
  
  Designed by KAAN Architecten and CELNIKIER & GRABLI ARCHITECTES to accommodate 26 research groups and more than 500 users, the building responds to EPFL’s infrastructure demands for cutting-edge fundamental physics, quantum computing, and materials science research, while supporting a collaborative working environment. Its spaces are developed to meet the exacting requirements of ultra-sensitive research, with architectural and technical systems creating carefully controlled conditions and shielding the environment from disturbance.
  

• 19/03 2026

  Design win for Area 19 at Eindhoven University of Technology

  KAAN Architecten and De Zwarte Hond have won the tender for Area 19 at TU/e. The commission includes the design of a new research and education building and the urban development of a new campus area. The project will be developed in the coming years within the framework set by TU/e.
  
  The proposal builds on the original masterplan by Sam van Embden from the 1960s, retaining the orthogonal structure and characteristic bridges. The ambition is to develop Area 19 as an open ensemble around a central hall, with green spaces strengthening the connection to the surrounding campus and the Dommel valley.
  Area 19 will accommodate three faculties of TU/e, including an advanced laboratory, offices, a large lecture hall and two smaller halls. Interaction is a key principle in the design at both the campus and building levels. Through targeted spatial interventions, knowledge exchange and collaboration between researchers, students and staff will be encouraged.
  Sustainability is a key principle. A compact layout and a modular, adaptable structure with timber elements will allow the building to evolve over time and support interdisciplinary use.
  
  Client: Eindhoven University of Technology
  Design team: KAAN Architecten and De Zwarte Hond
  Collaborators: Adviesbureau Lüning, B3, Alba Concepts, IDEFIX landscape architecture and Marjan van Aubel

• 17/12 2025

  KAAN Architecten expands its leadership towards the future

  KAAN Architecten announces an expanded leadership structure that reflects the firm’s ongoing growth and long-term vision, building on a lineage that began in Amsterdam in 1987 with Claus en Kaan Architecten. In 2002, a Rotterdam partnership was established by Kees Kaan, Dikkie Scipio, and Vincent Panhuysen, which evolved into the independent practice KAAN Architecten in 2014. Their collaborative and analytical design approach has shaped the firm’s identity, rooted in quality, pragmatism, and the Dutch building traditions of sustainability and welfare. The close relationship between practice and academia has further strengthened the firm’s ability to address the growing complexities of today's built environment.
  
  Collaboration has always been at the heart of KAAN Architecten’s practice. The development of our leadership structure signifies a natural progression in recognising the collective effort that shapes the office and in preparing it for the next generation of work.
  
  From December 2025, four Associate Partners – Renata Gilio, Marco Lanna, Antony Laurijsen and Hrvoje Šmidihen– will join the Founding Partners in steering the firm into its next chapter. As Associate Partners, they will focus on the overall direction of the office, guiding its strategic development, managing teams and resources, and cultivating key internal and external relationships. In this role, they will work closely with the Founding Partners to ensure continuity of the firm’s vision and culture.
  
  They will be supported by a group of Associate Architects – Bas Barendse, Timo Cardol, Marylène Gallon, and Lisa Goes– who will ensure that the architectural quality of each commission is consistently achieved. Their role is centred on translating the shared ambitions of the office into concrete, built results.
  
  Together, this team offers complementary expertise, diverse perspectives, and a shared commitment to excellence. Their appointment strengthens the firm's continuity while supporting its future ambitions. Each of these individuals is already deeply involved in the daily work of KAAN Architecten, and this formalisation recognises their significant contributions to the practice.