Campus Achmea Apeldoorn, The Netherlands (2006–present)
In 2012, the Centraal Beheer Achmea insurance company will move a portion of its operations from its celebrated headquarters, designed by Herman Hertzberger, to a location on the periphery of Apeldoorn, in an offshoot of the largest natural area in the Netherlands: the Veluwe district. Following a closed competition, Bureau B+B won, together with HMADP architects, a commission involving the expansion of existing building and a new concept for the terrain. Because of the campus-like arrangement of the buildings, it was possible for B+B to seamlessly extend the surrounding Veluwe landscape – a landscape that can be summed up as slightly rolling, with dunes, birch trees, juniper bushes, heather and pine trees – over the entire terrain. A start had already been made: a magnificent existing wood, a shelter belt, a beach-tree lined road and an existing immense Sequoiadendron giganteum. All of the interven-
tions reinforce the impression of working in the middle of nature. The workplace is only a few steps away from nature, as a place for lunch, walks or meetings. In addition, spots of particular interest are located at different locations on the terrain, which, although referring to characteristic elements of the Veluwe, are clearly of a more cultivated type: circular gardens with bright-blooming heather species, a fancifully shaped water garden and two pavilions hidden in the wood. A system of wooden paths, just slightly raised above the landscape, resembling worn-down paths, oscillates across the terrain. In the centre of the plan area a path zigzags upward, becoming a deck elevated 3 m above ground level, under which parking facilities are located. The design represents a comprehensive approach to the terrain: a landscape, rather than an office garden.
Type: Utilitarian Green, Campus
Client: HMADP Architecten
Designteam: Bureau B+B stedebouw en landschapsarchitectuur
Program: Paths system, deck gardens, moorland, forest and 2,500 parking spaces
Surface: 25.2 acre Budget: € 3.500.000,-
plan
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Erica tetralix ‘Conunderwood’ Erica tetralix ‘Pinkstar’ Calluna vulgaris ‘Amethyst’ Erica carnea ‘Rosalie’
heather circles
Erica carnea ‘Nathalie’ Erica carnea ‘Winterbeauty’ Erica carnea ‘Winterfreude’ VI VII VIII IX
existing trees
plan of the trees
Pinus sylvestris
Sequoiadendron giganteum
Betula pendula
Juniperus communis
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Fagus sylvatica
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Quercus robur