Office Building Centraal Beheer

Herman Hertzberger, The Netherlands, 1972

 

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Herman Hertzberger     Download Original

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  • Plan at level zero - car parking and semi basement    
  • Plan at level one - car parking and main entrances    
  • Level two plan    
  • Level three plan    
  • Columns and voids (level four plan)    
  • Circulation and structure grids define spacial arrangements    
  • Section A-A    
  • Section    
  • Diagram showing how office space can be used in different ways    
  • Building form    

Structuralist office building for Centraal Beheer Insurance Company, consisting of a collection of interpretable spatial units in open plan linked by a central core

The office building consists of 56 cubic elements of nine meters by nine meters, located around a core containing the lifts, stairs and bathrooms. In each block there are four of these elements per floor with a gap of three metres between them for human traffic. These larger structures are grouped into four quadrants of office space; north, south, east and west, and are held together by a central core containing the social centre of the building.

Each element is designed to be flexible and subject to the individual freedoms of its inhabitants. The building has an inter-penetrating grid of circulation and structure that leaves space for interpretable zones which can be modified for different purposes.

The building is constructed from concrete blocks, in combination with a visible supporting structure of precast concrete. The bottom floor houses the car park and the structure of this level is rotated 45 degrees relative to the superstructure.

Data

  • Begun: 1968
  • Completed: 1972
  • Sector: Office
  • Address: Prins Willem Alexanderlaan 651, Apeldoorn, Gelderland, The Netherlands, Netherlands

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