Wagons Lits office building and Ibis
Hotel, Amsterdam
Their position on the square
fronting the railway station (Stationsplein) was influential on this design for
offices and a hotel. One of the two principal masses (the office tower) has
rounded ends that point the building in every direction so that you get a view
of the city from it on all sides.
A layered composition of
balconies, sunbreaks and clear glass render this building transparent. Its main
structure is a combination of steel and concrete, with facades of silver-grey
aluminium panels and steel parts that persistently lend it the colour of the
sky. In the other portion (the hotel) all
bathrooms are set against the outer wall which is then expressed as a rippling
facade with bathroom windows in the projections and hotel room windows in the
depressions. The pattern in the glass bricks and the undulations of the
frontage create a glittering effect, whether in sunlight or artificially after
dark, that suggests parallels with the water below.
Client
BV Nemeog, Utrecht
Architect
Benthem
Crouwel Architekten
Gross
floor area
office 6102 m²
hotel 5770 m²
Start
design
1987
Start
construction
1991
Completion
1992
