This article was published in July 2024 in magazine Pi. The text is written by Eva Vroom. Photography by about.today.
PWC Netherlands’ head office in Amsterdam is located in Westgate I and Westgate II in the Riekerhaven business park and was designed by Kraaijvanger Architects between 2004 and 2006. The two buildings with together around 600,000 square feet of office space are connected through an underground pedestrian tunnel from the parking garage.
PHOTO: The center of the plaza is occupied by the reception, a coffee bar and an all-day bar.
Over the last few years, the original cell offices have been transformed to a far more open office environment in line with activity-based working. The reuse of as many materials as possible was given priority here, based on the ambition to refit CO2 neutral and circularly. Part of this project are the central meeting areas - the Plazas - in Westgate I and II.
The interiors of these enormous spaces were designed by Powerplant and built by Gielissen Interiors | Exhibitions | Events, which has many years of experience in the field of circularity.
PHOTO: Carefully placed greenery and green walls are an important part of the interior design.
Powerplant has been involved in the project since 2017, relates creative director David Kulen. “We created the circular design for the Plazas. These were originally far more formal vast reception areas. PwC approached us with the question: how can we bring an area like this to life?” Powerplant came up with a new, radical different zoning for the Plazas, with hospitality central to the experience. “We laid out the Plazas as co-working space, which also acts mostly as a restaurant for about two hours a day. If you establish the hospitality well and always ensure that something is open, it keeps things lively.”
The middle of the Plazas is taken up by the reception, a coffee bar, and an all-day bar. Surrounded by a town-park-planning-inspired ring designed as a pleasant and lively co-working space with carefully positioned planting and green walls. “We designed various seating areas, with different moods and styles of open and more secluded areas, where it is calmer the further you are from the beating heart.”
PHOTO: One of the materials used in the plaza of Westgate II is scaffolding tube, which is universal and demountable, making it easy to reuse.
PHOTO: Gielissen finished the striking grandstand at Westgate I with reclaimed wall panels from the PwC office.
An important requirement from PwC was that reuse of components should be an integral part of the design. Kulen: “PwC as a company wants to take circularity into account wherever possible. They had an entire floor with furniture that had been completely refurbished, and a huge material pool with reusable components, sheet materials, etc. This presented a challenge, because it was by no means a standard linear design process. In circular design you create a kind of puzzle, that you complete from the pool of materials you have to hand. This requires considerably more creativity.” To ensure that the design based on reused materials formed a cohesive whole, everything was designed according to a precise grid. “We looked for ways to introduce repetition and structure.” All the customized work was made with exacting precision by Gielissen Interiors, who have built a harvesting hall especially for these kinds of circular projects, according to commercial manager interiors Frank van der Pasch. “We transformed Powerplant’s design sketches into constructional drawings and, based on the available materials in the harvest hall, we were able to offer the most sustainable solutions.”
For Gielissen, the Plazas really crown a longer running project, continues van der Pasch. “PwC Nederland approached us at the end of 2019, because they wanted their meeting center to be completely circular. All the materials for this came from other office components. The monitors that are standing on the AV desks are made from old solid core desktops. Following the meeting center, PwC wanted the entire office to be circular and we started with the office floors, which were laid out according to an activity-based work concept based on a design by Kraaijvanger Architects. On these office floors, we made back walls from the harvested and cleaned carpet tiles and the mobile coffee stations were made from repurposed solid core boards. Reused kitchen cupboards were all given a uniform look, creating a unified feel.”
PHOTO: The plazas have different seating areas, atmospheres and typologies, with a mix of open and more secluded spots.
In the case of the Plazas, reuse was combined with new, sustainable materials, explains designer Lotte de Jong who, together with Gielissen, resolved the complex ‘materials puzzle’ for PwC. “In the event of ‘sliding projects’, as we call them, you are dependent on the harvested materials that become available at a said moment in the project. You can’t just harvest material from everywhere while a building is still in use. This is why, in Westgate II, we consciously opted for using new scaffolding poles, they are universal and redeployable and so easy to reuse.” For the large canopy at the reception desk, the steel poles have been combined with recycled acrylic. The refit of the reception desk comprises Resysta biobased sheet material based on 60% rice bran.
The interior at Westgate I came later, once more materials from the PwC offices had become available for reuse. De Jong: “The proceeds from the harvesting of Westgate I included Accoya timber. We were just a little short, but Kraaijvanger made a solid Accoya timber boardroom table available. What a boon that was!” The eye-catching grandstand in Westgate I is finished with repurposed wall panels from PwC; the doors have been reused as table tops and the former luminaires have been transformed into hanging baskets. “PwC wanted to revisit as much of their own materials as was possible.”
PHOTO: Gielissen has its own harvest hall, built specifically for this type of circular project.
An important promoter of this ‘no waste’ approach is Rob Klinkert, senior portfolio manager facility management with PwC Nederland. “The share of sustainability advice in our business has grown strongly since 2015, as facility management you can’t ignore what’s going on in core business. The greatest impact you can have in facility management, is to buy far less and keep materials in the value chain for as long as possible. Inspired by Thomas Rau’s circular legacy, we started a small-scale pilot for lighting. From here we expanded the reuse still further, and we also asked suppliers if they would collaborate with us on this. Ultimately, we had two floors with walls, parts of kitchens, insulation materials and luminaires to be reused. Whenever we initiated a purchasing project, we said to each other, see what we can reuse first.”
As far as the circular design for the Plazas is concerned, he is contented, but “I would like to see this implemented everywhere. I see that projects often still run linearly, a building or interior is completed and then the role of the architect ends. With regard to perspectives for development, wouldn’t it be better if the architect remained involved in a project? You need to be fully aware of the impact you can have as an (interior) architect, because it is huge.”
Legend:
Customer PwC Nederland
Interior design Powerplant
Interior construction Gielissen Interiors | Exhibitions | Events
Sustainability strategist Lotte de Jong
Reused materials PwC Rubberwood; pantry: lower cabinets, worktops, refrigerators, washbasins, and taps; acoustic felt; wall panels gray & wood look; doors; Trespa desktops; carpet tiles; luminaires
Reused third party materials Rubberwood (boardroom table Kraaijvanger Architects)
