13 minute read
City Campus Booking.com
from ODE Magazine 4 ENG
by bpd-nl
BEN VAN BERKEL, ARCHITECT/FOUNDER UNSTUDIO
I am extremely proud to see the Booking,com building reach the point that the employees can soon move in and experience all of the ideas that we put into the design. It was especially rewarding to work on a project like this for such a spectacular location in our home town and to have been able to closely witness it taking shape over the last few years.
The design is closely related to this very dense, central part of the city. The architecture combines the robust qualities and the industrial history of the harbour, while the glazed detailing of the facade reduces the overall immensness of the building and gently reflects the glistening of the water and sky. From the inside, the sweeping views over Amsterdam and ‘t IJ offer an almost cinematic experience.
The whole design process itself was also a unique experience for us. Booking.com was keen for their headquarters to be a reflection of their leading position in the tech world and therefore considered the building to be an important tool in attracting top young talent from the industry. This goal served as our starting point during the research phase, when we joined the Booking.com team on visits to other sucessful tech company buildings, including a Google campus. However, none of the existing buildings were really interesting enough for Booking.com to serve as inspiration. For us, this meant investing a lot of time to create a completely new, out-ofthe-box and unique concept.
Rather than designing a typical 20-storey office building, where you are met by an impressive lobby and then led directly to the elevators, we opted to follow the model of a state-of-the-art university campus. The focus here was on serving the needs and behaviour of Booking.com employees, from the moment they walk in, to the end of their working day and all the activities in between. As a result, the design developed to resemble the experience of a walk through a large park with different routes and points of interest. It had to be a place where people could walk, talk and meet each other, as it was very important that the building facilitate and encourage learning and the exchange of ideas. The connection between the different floors of the building had to be made as open and easy as possible, with sufficient ventilation and daylight, so that people would be encouraged to move around. Sustainability and a clear link to the city and its residents were also essential focus areas.
We have previously designed buildings based on these principles. However, the Booking.com HQ gave us the perfect opportunity to fine-tune these ideas and execute them on a large and challenging scale and we are very proud of the result.
“The new Booking.com Campus will be among the most sustainable buildings in Amsterdam, supporting our commitment to operate our business sustainably,” says Danielle D’Silva, Booking.com’s Head of Sustainability. “The credentials of this building along with how it has been designed to encourage more sustainable behavior by employees is one of the key drivers to achieve our goals on this front.”
“Travel can be a powerful force for good – bringing enhanced cultural understanding, socio-economic opportunities for communities and attention to natural resources and our environment.” Danielle D’Silva is convinced that people learn from their travels. It gives them a broader perspective of the world around them. “However, we must also recognise that travel can have unintended consequences on people and the planet.”
Hence Booking.com’s strong commitment to sustainable travel. “Our mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world, and to that end, we want to make it easier for our travelers to do so in a more sustainable way.” Booking.com’s research confirms that 71% of travelers say they want to travel more sustainably in the coming 12 months, a 10% increase compared to last year. One of the ways in which Booking.com does this is with their Travel Sustainable badge which recognises properties for their sustainability efforts across five key impact areas.
“We want to encourage our properties to progress on their own sustainability journey, so it’s vital that we set a good example.” D’Silva explains. “We can’t ask our partners to consider their footprint, whether it’s reducing waste or running on renewable energy for instance, while not doing these things ourselves.”
Future-proof
Booking.com is setting a good example in its design of the building. “The Campus reflects our values and commitments as a company. The building itself is BREEAM Excellent and has wonderful features from a sustainability perspective that will make it a highly efficient building. Even more importantly, our aim is to stimulate more sustainable behaviour from the people who are going to work there. For example, we have considered how best to reduce our waste through both the food offering, as well as its packaging. We have increased the share of plantbased food we plan to serve, minimizing higher-impact meal options.”
Pauline Kern, senior project manager of real estate company CBRE BV
“CBRE has been involved in developing the Campus since 2017. CBRE is helping Booking.com design and arrive at the best fit-out (i.e. the interior of the Campus). We provide full project, process, procurement and cost management services for Booking.com. And CBRE’s design team was invited to design parts of the building. We manage the planning, cost management, procurement, process and execution of all 18 fit-out procurement packages. Additionally, we are of course involved in the mutual coordination between the respective parties, including BPD | Bouwfonds Gebiedsontwikkeling. Royal HaskoningDHV has been involved in the project since 2016 and supports us and Booking.com with knowledge and expertise about the Casco+ building and the associated technical requirements. In this manner, we manage the complete scope for Booking.com.”
“It’s a unique project and every day is different. Our team learns new things every day; we grow with the building, so to speak. I joined the project in mid-2017 with an inventory of the facility processes. My job later expanded to include managing the interior architects and process management for the various designs in the Campus. In 2019, we started converting the designs into 18 procurement packages, which we brought to market in cooperation with BPD. We’re currently preparing for the actual design of the fit-outs. As such, our team’s focus shifts every six months.”
Booking Campus team
“We sometimes don’t realise how amazing it is to be building the Campus together. But we’re doing something wonderful as a team, which generates an enormous amount of energy. I really enjoy our team’s collective passion.”
“Good mutual cooperation is very important. We’ve established this with Booking.com, Royal HaskoningDHV and CBRE. Three different organisations, with different DNA, but collectively, we’re the Booking Campus team. We’re one team, that’s how we feel. It’s important to keep investing in partnerships. For instance, we’ve worked hard to work well with all the architects. Almost all of the procurement processes have been completed, and sometimes we have to go back to the architects because their products are no longer available or have been taken out of circulation. We then look for suitable alternatives together. Because we cooperate so well, we always come up with a good solution.”
The Campus will also be an office with plenty of greenery. “Bringing more plants and even trees into the building is important in our sustainability philosophy. Plants have a positive impact on air purification and oxygen levels in the building, in addition to promoting enhanced employee wellbeing. People feel more comfortable in a working environment where there is an abundance of greenery.”
The sustainability of the Campus is also reflected in the building’s flexible layout. “We want a futureproof building. Not only should it meet today’s standards, but those of tomorrow too. We don’t want to renovate the structure every year, because the arrangement of the building no longer fits the needs of our people. We’ve approached the design in a way that is built for ongoing adaptation, which is super important as the role of the workplace continues to evolve. ”
Encourage and inspire
The fact that the Campus is located in the centre of Amsterdam also helps the company to continue to promote sustainable commuting behaviour. “We want our employees to go to work by bicycle or public transport, which is already currently the case. That becomes even easier with the Campus, since we’ll be just a stone’s throw from Central Station. In fact, the Campus offers a bicycle shed with over two thousand spaces, with parking for cars very limited.”
“Being more mindful about our impact on the planet and ensuring the Campus reflects our company’s commitments on this front is something our people are passionate about at Booking.com,” D’Silva highlights. “When they spend time in our buildings, we want to make it a seamless and inspiring experience, with sustainability at the core. The aim is to make it easy for them to keep up with the more responsible habits that are already a part of their routine at home and maybe even prompt them to pick up some new ones.”
“The City Campus is the grand finale in Oosterdokseiland’s development. It marks the completion of a special area development with an urban programme,” says Jeroen Galle, serving on behalf of BPD as principal for the City Campus for Booking.com.
What he likes best about the City Campus? “That you stay in touch with the city from every floor you’re on. You smell the city, you hear the city, you hear the people out on the quayside. It’s fantastic! Urban life for me is when someone rings your doorbell and you toss down your keys from three floors up so they can let themselves in. You can do that in most of Amsterdam’s neighbourhoods, and that’ll soon be possible with this building.”
This is because the City Campus will “only” be 47 metres tall. “With a 23-storey residential tower, that’s not possible – you’re detached from the city. Not here. We also maintained the dimensions of the old CS postal building, not a centimetre taller. It’s a huge building, but still on a human scale. Where people live as well as work, where everyone can grab a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, or just sit on the stairs to enjoy the city.”
“Booking.com’s City Campus is the final piece of the Oosterdokseiland puzzle. A building that will soon house around five thousand employees, from all corners of the globe. Completion of this building marks the grand finale of a complete area development, consisting of several multifunctional buildings with a special urban programme,” Galle says. With all its related functions including housing, shops, offices, catering and metropolitan facilities such as the Public Library and the Conservatory.
“The urban programme for Oosterdokseiland was to create an island where people can meet, where buildings and public space interact, and where you can also spend time without having to go inside somewhere. And all in a beautiful place with the most amazing panoramic view across the old city. I know of few walking boulevards like the one around Oosterdok, where you have such a beautiful view of the historic city centre and can experience the water so closely. We’ve created a new piece of the city.”
Part of the city
“Development of the City Campus is special,” Galle looks back. “We were just emerging from a financial crisis, the building site had been idle for several years, and then Booking.com knocked on the door. They were looking for a lively city campus, an inspiring workplace where their employees could interact, and Booking.com wanted its campus to be part of the city. Not a building with a fence around it. And there isn’t going to be one. The employees will soon be able to use the facilities on the Campus, as well as those in the neighbourhood. The city is at your feet.” The employees also wanted contact with the city. “It’s no coincidence that many large Dutch tech companies (including TomTom and Booking.com) are located on Oosterdokseiland. That’s because today’s international IT talent says: ‘I’m not going to the Zuidas in a three-piece suit, I’m going to the office on my bicycle, in the centre of Amsterdam.’ Companies respond to their employees’ wishes in this regard.”
What’s more, although Booking.com is an international company, its roots are in Amsterdam. “Booking therefore wants its employees, who come from all over the world, to identify with this building and feel at home in it. This philosophy ties in perfectly with our own philosophy about Oosterdokseiland. It’s wonderful that everything has come together like this.” >>
Customised service
The builders, from contractors to structural engineers, and from installers to façade builders, have gone to great lengths from the start to manage the technical challenges posed by the building. Galle knows the City Campus is a complex building. “This is partly due to its structural design. While the building is largely on the ground, it is also partly suspended above it. Especially the cantilever and the forces you have to absorb constructing it make the building technically complex. But maximising the façade area to let in as much daylight as possible isn’t easy either. And the building boasts numerous highlights. It features two large atriums, a state-of-the-art smart technical installation, dwellings with 180-degree views of the city, an underground programme with technology, a huge bicycle shed and parking spaces, and fully furnished and finished office space for Booking.com including a beautiful roof garden.”
Construction of the City Campus is also complex because of all the different parties working on site – contractors, subcontractors, structural engineers and installers. “They regularly consult with one another to solve problems in the best possible way. Sometimes the contractor asks: ‘Has the architect detailed this drawing adequately,’ while the architect says: ‘No, that’s the structural engineer or contractor’s job.’”
Finding solutions
“Conversations like this take place on most construction projects,” Galle continues. “My role as principal is to get the parties together, and to arrive at the best compromise in case of a disagreement. Look, everyone plays their role, the architect designs beautiful architecture and the builders translate it into a striking yet feasible building. You utilise each other’s expertise. You can’t build a building like this on your own, you have to work together. It’s important to take each other’s interests into account, and that sometimes takes time. As a cycling enthusiast I know that besides talent and enjoyment, you need patience and stamina to reach the finish line. This applies to the City Campus as well.”
Galle knows that no matter how much the City Campus demands of all the parties involved, everyone feels proud to have contributed in the end. “And I’m happy about that of course. That’s the common thread that runs through Oosterdokseiland as a whole. It didn’t build itself, but people are enthusiastic about the end result. Everyone likes the island – Amsterdam’s residents embraced it almost immediately. I’m sure this will be the case with the City Campus as well.”
