Kerkhoflaan - atelier PRO office
Kerkhoflaan - atelier PRO office
Kerkhoflaan - atelier PRO office
A built manifesto: a light, green, sustainable and nature-inclusive private office where collaboration is key
A house with an architectural history
The office is set up around the former, self-designed home and office of architect Dirk Roosenburg, famous for the KLM building in The Hague, the Lely pumping station and the locks in the Afsluitdijk — and also Rem Koolhaas's grandfather. This office was located on an inland dune on the border between The Hague and the Scheveningen Bosjes. Here, in the garden of the former 'Beaulieu' estate at the head of Banka Street, a complex of buildings has grown organically. Each added part of the building is nestled in the garden and is in line with the small scale of the original buildings, with one space almost automatically turning into the next.
Cooperation as a starting point: the Forum
What characterizes our agency is the great value we attach to collaboration, something that is reflected in the design of our entire office. Collaboration was also the guiding principle behind the biggest expansion we did: the 1992 Forum. By building this large office space underground, the scale and unity of the complex remained intact. At the same time, we have created additional workplaces and a multifunctional central space here in a surprising way. The Forum is set up at two levels, which reduces scale. This creates a quiet “private atmosphere” that is linked to the benefits of a large office space, where people communicate, exchange views, get inspiration and collaborate easily.
An office garden in a garden full of greenery
The Forum was excavated in the dunes and is hidden underground. Light comes in, among other things, by making use of the difference in level between the existing upper and lower gardens, with a large glass front overlooking the romantic lower garden; this is connected by a slender bridge to the upper garden in a stylized English style. Extra light enters through skylights and skylights and through the patio, filtered through tree canopies. This is how an office garden in a garden was created, with exciting views of the green.
Respect for the garden, dunes and nature
Despite the many extensions, the old inland dune, through the roof gardens and green roofs, has remained a lush green area, with a great deal of biodiversity — our pond even has protected frogs and salamanders; a green space that, by the way, is maintained by the entire office and is therefore an “office garden” in the most literal sense of the word. With each expansion, atelier PRO has been inspired by the location, with respect for the dune environment. This is how we created a light, green, sustainable and nature-inclusive office that fits into the context and where collaboration plays a key role — an office that symbolises everything we stand for.
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