05 2016
May 2016
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31/05 2016

KAAN to design New Amsterdam Courthouse

With a staff of 1.000, including 200 judges and 800 professionals, as well as many daily visitors and the processing of 150.000 cases a year, the Courthouse of Amsterdam is the largest in the Netherlands. The new building will be located at the intersection of the Zuidas and Parnassusweg, where the present judicial complex will be demolished.

KAAN Architecten’s preliminary design is a stately, open structure which offers both employees and visitors views over the city, and passers-by the opportunity to engage with the building. Natural design consequences of this are the big windows at the ground floor as well as the entrance courtyard intended for public use. The city’s streets merge with the layout of the building. The forecourt, the central hall and its foyers, and the waiting areas for visitors are an extension of urban space.

Inside, just off the central hall, the building will have two independent structures with 50 courtrooms and council chambers, all provided with daylight. NACH_central-foyer

Gardens will also be protagonists of the New Amsterdam Courthouse. The central hall with escalator will border an enclosed garden, shielded by a glass wall. Vertical gardens will climb through the building among the offices. And in the western part, a sunken garden will supply daylight to the lower floor, while a large terrace will also provide 50 workstations with connections.

The new building is to be completed in 2020.

NACH_office-patio

KAAN Architecten is undertaking works for the New Amsterdam Courthouse as part of a consortium which includes Macquarie Capital, ABT, DVP, construction companies Heijmans and M.J. de Nijs & Zonen, and Facilicom. A 30-year DBFMO contract, established upon commission by the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, forms the basis of this public-private partnership (PPP).

Images by KAAN Architecten, Beauty & The Bit.

18/05 2016

B30 completion on its way

B30, the new accommodation of the Dutch planning offices, is a renovation of a ministry building of the 20th Century in the city of The Hague. The entire ground floor is an extension of the public and collective spaces and includes a seminar room, partly positioned in the garden.

A reportage by photographer Sebastian van Damme is following all the steps of the renovation process, below the latest shots.

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09/05 2016

#hetnieuwemuseum microsite launch and the interview with Dikkie Scipio

Today the Flemish Minister of Culture Sven Gatz visited the new vertical museum under construction and launched the new microsite “hetnieuwemuseum.be” documenting the renovation and extension works.

The interactive microsite shows the vertical museum design and simulation of the new rooms and museum spaces, alongside with regular updates on both the renovation and new museum works. A timelapse camera is screening the constant changes of the construction site.

The launch coincide with the second renovation phase involving the six museum courtyards: two small ones containing technical installations and four bigger ones welcoming new exhibition spaces designed by KAAN Architecten. Big voids and a new roof are at the core of the design, while the original routing of the museum is restored.

The main entrance part will feature a public library, a museum shop, a café, an auditorium, a cloakroom, toilets and workshop rooms. The renovation of the facade will start in late 2017 and the new Royal Museum of Fine Arts will open again its doors in 2019.

An extensive interview with Dikkie Scipio “Two worlds inside one museum” illustrates the design process and the vertical museum design.