TWN2003 Final report

www.vrom.nl

Final report

TWN 2003

Final report TWN 2003 THE WORKPLACE NETWORK 2003 Report of the 12th annual workshop on Quality of the building and the built environment, held in Maastricht and Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2003

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Table Of Contents

1.

Sunday

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1.1 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4

Opening of the workshop Introduction to the Annual workshop, by Fred van der Veen The end of the polder, by Jan Lintsen Welcome to Maastricht, by the major of Maastricht Ger Leers Welcome to The Netherlands, by the deputy minister of VROM Pieter van Geel

9 9 10 14 16

2.

Monday: Quality Through The Ages Shaped By Society

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2.1 2.1.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.4 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.5

Keynote Buildings as landmarks in history, by Henk Hofland Workshops Workshop 1: “Buildings that last” Workshop 2: “Future of history” Workshop 3: Actual items of TWN members Site visits Courthouse St. Annadal, by Hans Wijffels History of the Public Records Office in Maastricht, by Jaques van Rensch Member updates Member update 1:“Challenge of Zero-energy Post office”, by Shiro Natanai Member update 2: “Sustainable Design at GSA”, by Debra Yap Conclusions from Monday

19 19 32 32 34 36 38 38 39 42 42 45 49

3.

Tuesday: Quality In The Eyes Of The Customer

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3.1 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 3.2.4 3.2.5 3.3 3.3.1

Keynotes Quality of the building, in Holland and at Ceramique, by Jo Coenen Quality of the building from the perspective of the next generation, multimedia presentation by W4 “Through a customer’s eye”, by Leonard Kok Workshops Workshop 1: “Knowledge, a window to new opportunities” Workshop 2: “Sustainable development” Workshop 3: “Sustainable vitality in office spaces” Workshop 4: “More interaction between TWN and W4: a win-win situation?!”

Conclusions of the workshops 1,2 and 3 Discussion and conclusion about the link between W4 and TWN A lower house debate, led by Hans Beunderman

51 51 52 53 62 62 74 75 75 77 77 77

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4.

Wednesday: Quality In The Future

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4.1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.3 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.4 4.4.1 4.4.2

Keynotes Welcome by the Queen’s Commissioner in the province of Limburg, by B.J. Van Voorst tot Voorst Globalisation paradoxes for public real estate management, by Kees Zoeteman Development of Liège, by Albert Dupagne Workshops Workshop 1: “Make the future work today” Workshop 2: “A spectrum of Real Estate Strategies”, by Pity van der Schaaf Site visits Boot trip on the river Maas: “History and building environment of the Maas Region”, by Dirk de Vries Place Saint-Lambert, The Law court Extensions, by M. Bister Member updates Member update 3: “Standard of Fundamental Performance of Government Buildings”, by Yumi Sato Member update 4: “Different updates of the Public Buildings Service”, by Joe Moravec and David Bibb

79 79 80 81 82 82 83 84 84 84 89 89 90

5.

Thursday: Quality Without Costs?

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5.1 5.1.1 5.1.2 5.2 5.2.1 5.3

Keynote Quality and procurement in a changing world of work, by John Worthington Dinner speech by Marjanne Sint Site visit Boat trip on the river Maas: “Living with water”, by Bart Schultz General meeting TWN 2003

92 92 94 95 95 96

6.

Friday: Receiving Quality In The Cre’s Around The World

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6.1 6.1.1 6.2 6.3 6.3.1

Keynote Five lessons from the Netherlands, by Aaron Betsky Forum discussion Site visit Kop van Zuid

97 97 97 99 99

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Foreword

Members of TWN Here you find the report of the 2003 TWN workshop on quality of the building and the built environment.

I am pleased to have been your host for this week of exchanging views, trends and developments as well as sharing best practices and management dilemma’s.

Organising this TWN conference has been a pleasant experience and to be honest a lot of work too. On behalf of the team of the Dutch government buildings agency that organised this event, I would like to compliment you with your contributions to the program. You have been excellent participants. We are especially happy that nobody got lost somewhere between Luik, Maastricht and Rotterdam, while moving by foot, train or boat.

This report is an elaborate one. In the report you find speeches, summaries of keynote speakers and member updates as well as summaries of workshopresults and reports of site visits.

To the TWN members who participated, it can be a helpful support to your memory.

To corporate real estate organisations who think about participating, it hopefully is an interesting appetiser to join the TWN. Of course the content of the workshop is different each year, never the less this international network itself has been allready for 12 years an important source of knowledge and a platform of sharing questions to the senior management of our organisations. The TWN website1 can give you the latest news on the annual workshops in preparation and participating organisations.

Fred van der Veen Director General Dutch Government Buildings Agency

1 http://www.icf-cebe.com/twn

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Introduction

Between 11th and 16th of May 2003, the 12th annual workshop of The Workplace Network took place in Maastricht and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Thirty-five delegates from eleven countries and five continents participated.

The theme for TWN 2003 was focused on the quality of buildings and the built environment. Quality is a broad concept and was in this workshop approached by emphasising different focuses.

Every day had therefore a different sub theme: Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday:

“Quality trough the ages shaped by society” “Quality in the eyes of the customer” “Quality in the future” “Quality without costs?”

“Receiving quality in the CRE’s around the world”

The first four days of the workshop were located in Maastricht with surroundings, including a site visit to Liege in Belgium. The two last days were located in Rotterdam, together with a site visit in ‘s Hertogenbosch. On the third day, TWN was joined by the W4 delegates who had their annual workshop in Bonn, Germany.

A number of keynote speakers were invited to give presentations.

Nine interactive workshops featured small-group discussions and included case studies as well as project updates. The week included several visits to buildings having remarkable characteristics related to the issues under debate in the workshops. Delegates from Japan and The U.S. held four members updates on important issues from their countries.

This report is a summary of the discussions that took place in the thematic workshops. The complexity of discussions does not allow a full coverage in the form of a report. The sessions were registered by rapporteurs. Some of the written speeches and PowerPoint-presentations held by the keynote speakers have already been handed out to the participants. The speeches will also be included in this report. The PowerPoint-presentations are at a CD-ROM with photographs for the participants.

From the notes of the rapporteurs as well as from the written speeches and PowerPoint-presentations, this condensed report has been made by the Dutch Government Buildings Agency. The text has not been checked by participants, so the editor is fully responsible for the content of this report.

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1.

Sunday

1.1 1.1.1

Opening of the workshop Introduction to the Annual workshop,

by Fred van der Veen

Introduction Fred van der Veen is Director-General for the Dutch Government Buildings Agency.

Speech Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the twelfth conference of The Workplace Network here in Maastricht. I am especially pleased that so many members are with us today, and I look forward to catching up with old acquaintances and meeting new colleagues who are with us here for the first time.

This is our second opportunity to host the conference, and on this occasion our theme is quality: the quality of buildings and of the built environment. I originally proposed this theme at the guidance committee meeting we held on board the ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen in 2001. We promised to make it both theoretical and practical, and I managed to persuade you that Maastricht was the ideal place for us to meet.

So, quality it is, with special emphasis on urban development, historic buildings, architecture and art. If you put those words together in Dutch, you get the acronym SMAAK meaning “taste”, which is also the title of our magazine. But I’m afraid it doesn’t work in English.

Taste is the cherry on the cake, that extra dimension that we, as managers of the government’s property service, value very highly indeed. Inspiring architecture, inspiring ideas, and inspiring examples. I hope we will be able to share some of these with you, and also discuss some of the problems we encounter in managing cultural heritage sites, in accommodating the needs of our clients, in planning for the future, and in making sound investments. And I hope that after the conference we will all be able to put our ideas into practice and convince our organisations that quality is the key to continuity.

Quality is also the key to the meeting we will have on Tuesday with the W4, the network for young people in public property organisations. Their meeting and ours have coincided exceptionally well,

giving us a unique opportunity to spend a day together sharing ideas and honing ideals. For it goes without saying that the next generation holds the future in its hands.

I would now like to introduce a few people.

Hans Beunderman, whom many of you know as the former Deputy Director-General of the Government Buildings Service and a familiar face at our Workplace Network conferences, will chair Tuesday’s meeting with the W4.

Harry Baayen, who will be arriving this evening, will chair our plenary sessions over the next few days.

Joop Pot, whom you all know, and Harry and I, form the executive of the Government Buildings Service.

Our first speaker this afternoon is Jan Lintsen, who used to work at our ministry and then at the Ministry of the Interior, before becoming Deputy Director-General at the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Jan will give a brief talk on some of the milestones in Dutch history.

We will then stroll across to the city hall, where the mayor of Maastricht, Ger Leers, will welcome us to the Netherlands’ southernmost city.

Pieter van Geel, the State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, will also say a few words, notably about Dutch policy on housing, spatial planning and the environment.

He’ll be talking about the role played by the Government Buildings Service in urban renewal, about the development of new tasks, and the concept of transport hubs. The meeting will be followed by a reception hosted by the city of Maastricht.

The team from the Dutch Government Buildings Agency that has organized the workshop of 2003 consists of Ivette Meijerink, deputy head at the department of Policy and Strategy, Selina Roskam, conference coordinator and Kristina Lundmark, also member of the organization team.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends, I wish you an instructive and enjoyable conference.

Thank you

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1.1.2

The end of the polder, by Jan Lintsen

Introduction Since February 2003, Jan Lintsen is deputy Director General of the Directorate-General for Freight Transport. This directorate-general is responsible for a safe, competitive and durable transportation system for goods. This includes transport by land as well as water.

Speech The person most unlikely to tell you something of real importance about a new country you’re visiting, is someone who’s lived there all his live. Well that’s me! Having lived here all my live, I am as Dutch as they make them, and I probably have a huge blind spot for the peculiarities of our culture. But now Ivette Meijerink has asked me to speak to you about this subject, and I, in a, mental state of overconfidence, accepted his invitation, I’d better give it a try.

In this quick lesson: who are the Dutch? I’ll tell you something about the three driving forces that determine every culture and therefore also made us what we are now. In my view these driving forces are “landscape”, “history” and “believes”. And as you are all civil servants, or at least operating quite close to the government, I’ll also tell you something about how these three drivers have worked out in the Dutch system of politics, and the way government, private enterprise and the civil society interact. Yes you will be told everything about the once famous poldermodel, and how it seemed to collapse in a few months time a year ago.

round all these little islands and the water in the canals is pumped into bigger canals, and from it into rivers that flow to the sea. If we would stop pumping today, dependant on the amount of rain that falls in Switzerland, France and Germany, a few weeks from now the whole western part of Holland would be flooding.

Knowing that you will not be surprised to hear that the Dutch government is very concerned about global warming and the subsequent rising of the sea level. Sometimes people, even the Dutch, think that this concern is caused by a sort of altruism, an enormous love of mankind and nature. But in fact it’s just plain self-interest.

Being so close to the sea has made us an outgoing people. Like the British, the Portuguese and the Spanjards we sailed the seven seas and set foot in many foreign countries. We were in Brasil, in North America (in fact we traded Manhattan to the British for the country of Surinam, talking about a bad deal), in Shri Lanka, in West Africa, South Africa, in Indonesia, New Guinea, New Sealand, Japan and lots of other places. But in most of these places we only came to trade. Unlike Portugal, Great Britain and Spain we didn’t colonise most of these countries. There is a lot of discussion why we didn’t do that. Some think it is because we were afraid to fight.

Others think it was because, unlike Spain and Portugal, we didn’t have the inclination to promote out faith. But I myself think it is the polderlike situation in our own country that kept us from it: every now and then we had to get back to find out whether our little islands were still there!

Let’s talk about the landscape first

This is a good moment to tell you something more about our history.

The Netherlands is mainly a delta. This means that it’s very close to the sea, it is very flat and that there are many, rather broad, rivers running through it. The polders, surrounded by dikes, kept dry by windmills, are the mental picture that most foreigners get when they think of Holland. This is not a worn out cliché, because apart from the windmills, replaced by engines about a hundred years ago, this picture is still true. A large part of our country is indeed below sea level, and we’ve got lots and lots of water running through it. You might have seen that when flew to Schiphol airport and had fair weather. Below you there were thousands of rectangular pieces of land, some with houses and greenhouses on them, others with black and white spotted cows. Little canals sur-

The French say that God created the world, except for Holland, because it was created by the Dutch, of course again referring to our permanent struggle with the sea. But although it’s a nice bon mot, it’s not true. God created the Netherlands, just the same as He created the rest of the world, at first barren and empty, later He filled it with plants and animals, and in the end the people came in. Of course we don’t know much about the first inhabitants of these parts of the world, but they were hunters and gatherers.

The Neanderthal didn’t reach these parts of Europe, as far as we know. For some reason he did not leave Germany, maybe it was because of the food, maybe because of the climate; it certainly weren’t the women.

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About 50 BC the Batavirians came here. They left Hessia in Germany (as you see there is progress). And worked for the Romans as mercenaries and horse traders. Several Roman emperors had Batavirians in their bodyguard, at least, until one of them, Julius Civilis, rose up against the Romans and tried to kick them out of the country. He might have succeeded if his army hadn’t got dead drunk halfway the battle.

Later on our country was inhabited by Franks (Charlemagne was said to have a palace in Nimegen, but as far as we know he never visited it) and Saxons, and of course Friesians. The Friesians are still there. They live in the northern part of country. They say they have their own language, although it is not very different from badly pronounced Dutch. The Franks and the Saxons mingled with all kinds of other people and became us.

During the Middle Ages numerous counts, barons, dukes and bishops fought each other. Formally they were subdued to the German emperor. One of those, please don’t ask me which one, wanted to add the crown of Friesia to his list of titles, and the Friesians told him that he could come and get it, He marched his army to Friesia and got stuck in marshes.

We came through the Middle Ages the same way as most European peoples. We had a pretty good time fighting, subduing serves, starving, dying of pestilence and burning heretics at the stake. Those good old days seemed to go on forever, but then one morning the renaissance broke loose. During these years one of our most celebrated countrymen, only surpassed by Rembrandt and Johan Cruyff, wrote his books. Desiderius Erasmus was, along with Thomas More, one of the great humanists philosophers. He wrote some good stuff about etiquette. For instance he advised the people of his time not to blow their noses in the tablecloth.

In those years the Netherlands were a part of Spain. During the reign of Charles V we could live with that. He spoke Dutch (Flemish, but that too is the same language), he didn’t increase the taxes too much and left the nobles in the country some room for their own discretionary powers. But then his son, Phillip the second, took over and everything changed. He hated Holland and its wet climate, and most of all he hated the Protestants, who got quite a strong position in these areas. On top of that, and that was of course his fatal mistake, he increased the taxes. He should-

n’t have done that. The British made the same mistake in North America and with the same result: a war of independence. Our war lasted 80 years. They probably would have liked to fight on some more 20 years, but then we would have had another 100 years war, and that would’ve been too confusing. During the 80 years war, the originally German prince of Orange, William I, took charge and became the leader of the revolt. It was rather a problem what kind of head of state this new country should have. At first they tried to get some French prince to take the throne, but he refused, so William became the head of state with the title of Steward.

Steward to whom? Steward to no one, except maybe the Dutch people. And so a republic was born, but it was a republic without republicans. This resulted in the stewardship becoming hereditary and in the end, after the Napoleontic occupation, the prince of Orange was made King William the first of a new Kingdom. This kingdom included Belgium, but they dropped out in 1830 after a war that took a full ten days.

Our present queen Beatrix is the fifth successor of this throne. Her powers are very limited, but she is said to have some influence behind the screens. Recently we have had some debate about the powers of the queen and whether they should be curtailed. One of her nieces, princes Margarita, claimed that the queen had abused her powers to ruin the company of the princesses’ husband. This man owned a flourishing Internet business. Strangely enough it went down about one and a half year ago. I’m curious what kind of explanation people who are not related to our queen use for their demise in e-business: Martians? A conspiracy of freemasons? The wandering Jew? Polls show that the popularity of our monarchy is still very high.

That brings us on the subject of “believes”.

Holland is said to be a protestant nation. And that is true if we regard the mentality of the majority of our fellow countrymen.

As a religion though, the protestants are a minority group now.

During this century the Catholics, who live mainly in the south, outgrew the Protestants in number. In the thirties the protestant leaders spoke about the yellow danger, by which they didn’t refer to Chinese, but to the white and yellow flag of the Vatican. They had demographers to predict that, if nothing was done, in year 2000 75% of the Dutch population had become Catholic, and of course, they would change the constitution in such a way that Holland would become a vassal state of Rome. But things turned

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out differently. The pharmaceutical industry saved us from foreign occupation and in the few years between 1950 and 1970 the Dutch Catholics shrunk their families and stored their faith in the barnyard.

What happened to the Protestants in the same period? They lost their faith too, but before that they split up in about 100 churches and sects. If they had their way they would have split up even further until every family had had his own church, but they couldn’t afford the heating.

So now we have a country in which still most people are baptised Christians, but most of them never go to church and, as most of them do not have their children baptised, in about 30 years, the Christian faith will have become marginal and finally extinct.

Have all the others become atheists by then? I don’t believe so. We have always been a religious country and most Dutchmen believe that “there must be something”. What this means varies form person tot person and from time to time. Some believe in reincarnation or vegetarianism, others in saving the environment and extra terrestrials.

In the mean time, from the sixties till now, lots of people from other countries came to Holland to help us out with the dirty work, or as refugees. Lots of them are Muslims. In some cities the Islam has become the second largest religion, just after Catholicism and before the Dutch Reformed Church (the biggest protestant church). Most Muslims have big families, and there is some fear that as their numbers grow they might take over those cities.

Some demographers predict that, in due time, Muslims will constitute 80% of our population and…. Hey do you recognise a pattern here?

Government, Market and Civil Society The Netherlands are a constitutional democracy. This means that the head of state, at this moment queen Beatrix, although a hereditary monarch, has very little real power. In fact she has three basics “rights”: the right to be informed, the right to warn and the right to encourage. The cabinet executes the real political powers in concordance with parliament. We have a two-chamber system, in which the so-called second chamber is chosen directly by the Dutch people and the so-called first chamber (who acts like

a senate) is chosen indirectly. The second chamber is the most important of the two, but sometimes the first chamber, shows it’s teeth. Than you are able to see how these, mostly elderly, part time statesmen and women, use their parliamentary experience to get our cabinet into trouble, and it’s not always a pretty sight to see. Most full time politicians would like abolish the senate completely, but you need to change the constitution for that and therefore you need the support of two third of both houses.

Our present political situation is rather awkward.

It all started in 1994 when a new coalition, called the purple coalition, came into being. Purple because of the combination of the blue right wing liberals and the red social democrats. It was a very big thing when these two parties put aside there differences and decided to form a government. For the first time since the First World War a cabinet was formed without participation of the christian-democrats. They had participated in the government for more then 80 years, longer then the communist party in Russia!

The long lasting participation of this christian-democrat party has left its traces in the Dutch society. Some are rather funny.

For instance our public broadcasting system that is still based on religious and political groups that hardly have any followers left.

Another one is the system of education, in which (by constitutional law) religiously oriented schools (protestant, catholic and more and more Muslim) have the same rights to public funding as the public schools. This results in catholic school getting an extra grant from the municipality when there is a broken window in the public school.

But there are some good things as well. In alternating coalitions with social democrats and right wing liberals, a societal model developed that is based on a dynamic equilibrium between state power, power of the market and the powers of Non-Governmental Organisations (such as trade unions, employers, consumer organisations, environmental pressure groups etc.) These last groups are often called the civil society. All over the world political scientists have acknowledged that it is this dynamic equilibrium between these three groups of powers that leads to a sound democratic development. In earlier years emphasis was placed on either state power (in socialist or state capitalist countries) or on market power (in capitalist countries). Lately it is recognised that this is a false dichotomy. I once heard a president of a deve-

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loping country say that his country didn’t need less government or less market; no, they needed móre government, móre market and móre civil society. This is exactly the way Holland has been working since the Second World War. This system was not designed, but it came into being as a “splendid accident”, during all these years of alternating leftish and rightish coalition. Coalitions ensured that new measures where build upon old ones, every time with new accents, but never completely undoing the work of the predecessors.

The purple coalition may have been new in its composition; it stuck to this old Dutch tradition. It even invented a word for it: the poldermodel. And what a big success it was. Economic growth was sky high. Innovative business and high standards of social security went hand in hand. Unemployment rates went down.

There even was budget surplus. It is not surprising that three years ago this poldermodel made international furore. Schröder, Blair, president Cardoso from Brazil even Clinton came over to study it in practice.

So what went wrong? It was not the economy stupid! About oneand-a-half year ago a flamboyant professor from Rotterdam, Pim Fortuyn, defied al existing political parties and campaigned for the position of Prime Minister. At first people laughed at him.

Then they tried to ignore him. Some even tried to brand him as a right wing extremist. But nothing helped. The voters loved him.

They adored the witty way he attacked the polder establishment.

He rephrased the political agenda. The quality of public services (especially health and education), the lack of safety in the bigger cities. Pim Fortuyn was heading towards a landslide victory.

Would he have gained enough support to become Prime Minister?

We’ll never know. A few weeks before the general elections Pim Fortuyn was murdered. His party became the second party and joined a coalition with christian-democrats and right wing liberals. Of course, being without a leader, the Pim Fortuyn party became a platform for quarrels and rows. And the cabinet collapsed, not because of political differences, but because of personal problems between to ministers of the Pim Fortuyn party. New elections were held in January and since then political parties are struggling to get a new coalition in place. The Pim Fortuyn party, much smaller now will not be in it.

Political scientists, historians, sociologists, philosophers even theologians have been working on a logical explanation for the things that happened over the last years. How can a country, once so stable, with such a high level of trust between politicians and

society become so vulnerable and desolate in such short time?

How could such a content nation become almost riotous overnight? And where are all those discontented people now? They seem to have disappeared as quickly as they came. Was Fortuyn a herald of a new political era or is everything going back to normal again? I haven’t seen a theory yet that solves my puzzlement.

In such cases the ancients looked for signs. Some weeks ago a large bronze statue of Pim Fortuyn was on its way to its pedestal.

It lost its head while passing under a fly-over. But even the signs are unclear. Was Pim to big for this small country or did we all just loose our heads?

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1.1.3

Welcome to Maastricht, by the major of Maastricht Ger Leers

Introduction Since February 2002, Ger Leers is Mayor of Maastricht.

Speech Ladies and gentlemen, Let’s come straight to the point: as mayor of Maastricht it is an honour and a pleasure for me to offer you, participants of the “12th annual workshop of The Workplace Network”, all a warm and enthusiastic welcome. You have joined in for a week of discussion, sharing knowledge and gaining insights on the theme “quality of the building and the built environment”. As I understand, you will stay in Maastricht and Rotterdam, two cities along the river Maas, but with a very different atmosphere. A visit to the Belgian city of Liege, near Maastricht, just across the border, is also included.

I welcome you all, but a special word of welcome I address to mister Pieter van Geel, the State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. I am very happy to meet him again, and I am glad that our roads cross here, as they did in The Hague and in Brabant.

I probably know what you are thinking right now. Oh please, not a long speech! And certainly not a speech by the mayor of Maastricht who is probably going to tell us that this city is the focal point of Europe.

Your first assumption is correct and I cannot deny your second thought. But, ladies and gentlemen: Why I am not going to tell you elaborate tales about this town? Because this town tells its own story as no other town does, without any words. The talk of the town is called Maastricht itself. That’s why there is no need for me to tell you that Maastricht is the most beautiful and the sunniest city of the Netherlands.

Should I say then that Maastricht is a city having international appeal? Consider your own presence here and there is the answer.

So what’s the purpose of my talking here any longer. Nevertheless I would like to make a few remarks.

Maastricht is the oldest town in the Netherlands. It was founded by the Romans. You only have to go and dig in the ground and you

come across them. What was of importance was the fact that those Romans were common sense traders. They established themselves in places that were most suitable for trade. And the settlements founded by them have continued to exist even after they themselves had disappeared. And that has meant in this area of Western Europe an unbroken two-thousand year history for towns such as Cologne and Maastricht.... crossroads of roads and waterways. And consequently of languages and cultures. This has had a curious result for this town, which is that Dutch is spoken here. This, while ten kilometres to the south the French language region begins, and thirty kilometres to the east the German language region starts.

Our historic misfortune was that past statesmen believed that language barriers had to lead to state boundaries - and so we ended up in a far distant corner of the Netherlands.

But statesmen too grow wiser. In 1991 the European Summit of the EC heads of government took place in Maastricht. In 1992 the treaty was signed here. Since than, the several European country’s ratified the Maastricht Treaty. And since the first of November of 1993 the Unification has become effective. And that is more than 500 years after Columbus discovered America. So it was about time.

We have anticipated this change.

Let me give you some examples: Firstly, within the last ten years no less than fifty international institutes have established themselves in Maastricht - in the fields of public administration, health care, technology, development cooperation and management training. One important reason for settling here has been, of course, that geographical centres of international contacts make the best working climate for institutes aimed at international cooperation.

Secondly, the newest university of the Netherlands was founded in Maastricht twenty seven (1976) years ago.

It is evident that stimulating and exchanging ideas is vital. Along this line of perspectives, Maastricht has strongly developed into a congress city these past years. With the opening of the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Center Maastricht’s function as a major congress city offers an excellent ambience: dynamic, historical,

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and a splendid environment.In other words, a place to meet in a city to love.

Maastricht invests in quality: in urban development, architecture, the arts and in culture. All this is because we believe that in our society the city is the primary vehicle of economic, cultural and social development.

And therefore: we in Maastricht, the city of the treaty, are actually rather convinced of the truth of the saying: those with intelligence choose Europe and those with a heart choose Europe too.

Those who have both: they choose Maastricht.

Ladies and gentlemen, A congress is a legitimate occasion on which to combine the seriousness of profession with the pleasure of the congress city. The mainpoint is that you will take in some of the inspiring atmosphere of Maastricht. We are known in the Netherlands as the enjoyers of the good things in life. Please join us.

May I now introduce to you the next speaker, the State Secretary, mister Pieter van Geel.

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1.1.4

Welcome to The Netherlands, by the deputy minister of VROM Pieter van Geel

Introduction Since July 2002, Pieter van Geel is State Secretary for the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment.

Speech Ladies and gentlemen, As State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, I was happy to interrupt my cycling tour of Limburg’s lovely hills to open this conference, hosted by the Government Buildings Service. My love of cycling and the outdoors goes well with my love for an attractive, high-quality built environment.

The Netherlands has only four million hectares of land, with a population of 16 million. Given our numbers, we like to call ourselves the “the biggest small nation in Europe”, even though it would be more politically beneficial to be the smallest big nation.

Those 16 million Dutch people have homes and spend their time at school, at work or in recreation. The great majority do so in the west of the country, in the delta of the great rivers, sometimes six metres below sea level.

You will appreciate that these conditions can complicate matters in housing, spatial planning, and the environment. At the ministry, we regard this complexity as a challenge. We recently coined a motto: “The Netherlands is small. Think big”. Let me go through my ministry’s core policy areas.

Housing In housing, our mission is to provide homes for people. This means attending not only to the number of homes available, but also to their quality, diversity, and sustainability – even though we now face a downturn in construction, and a housing shortage.

We demand high standards of renovation in our cities’ run-down districts and high standards of the design and delivery of new housing and village extension projects. After all, we are building for tomorrow’s living environment and not for demolition.

Space In spatial planning, we constantly seek a balance between preser-

ving open spaces and cultivated landscapes on the one hand and creating space for economic development and social dynamism on the other.

In the urbanised west of the country, we are developing a big-city environment. The big-city idea helps us think big about land use in our small country.

The environment As far as the environment is concerned, we have achieved much in the past few years. Our air, soil, and water are all cleaner, but some obstinate environmental problems remain. We have not, for instance, been able to grow the economy without increasing greenhouse gas emissions – which contribute to global warming, a climate change that will create extra problems, especially for lowlying countries like ours.

Think of the impact of rising sea levels, higher rainfall, and a greater volume of river water. Road traffic plays an especially large part in perpetuating this and other persistent environmental problems. Some of the solutions will have to come from technological innovations to cars and roads as well as from speed limits and road taxes.

Government Buildings Service The Government Buildings Service tries to reflect ministry policy on housing, spatial planning, and the environment in the accommodation it provides for government services, semi-autonomous agencies, and international organisations. It cannot do so in the same way everywhere.

The Government Buildings Service has a very diverse property portfolio, ranging from office buildings to laboratories, from ruins to palaces, and from prisons to museums. You’ll learn more about it in the next few days on the excursions to the state archives in Maastricht, housed in a historic building, to St. Annadal Courthouse, and to the successful urban renewal projects in South Rotterdam, especially the “Kop van Zuid”.

We set examples with the ecological sustainability of our buildings, especially our own ministry’s. We ensure a healthy indoor climate and save water and energy.

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Our overall environmental objectives can be summed up in the acronym “SMAAK”, which means “taste” in Dutch. The “S” stands for “stedenbouw”, or urban planning. The Government Buildings Service tries to give its projects an urban drive to make the city feel more vital. The “M” stands for “monumenten”, or historic buildings, reminding us that protecting our cultural heritage and accommodating the Royal House are part of the Government Buildings Service’s mandate. The two “A”s stand for “architecture” and “architectural policy”, and the “K” stands for “kunst”, or art.

Since the Government Buildings Service has to spend a fixed percentage of its budget on art, it is the country’s biggest commissioner of painting and sculpture.

Urban renewal I want to go further into the “S” for urban planning, since it also stands for urban renewal and key projects, both of which are promoted and guided by the Government Buildings Service.

Urban renewal is a complex process, engaging many parties and responsibilities. It involves demolition, construction and renovation, but also social cohesion, public safety, amenities, and green spaces. In fact it involves all activities that protect vulnerable city districts from going downhill. Its complexity and scale – certainly in terms of cost – mean that the actors wait for each other to take action.

Through public-private partnerships, we try to bind municipalities, housing associations, property developers, and other actors to joint ventures in city districts. This is to stop individual actors from extracting the most lucrative projects and leaving less lucrative but indispensable investments untouched. The Government itself wants to promote and launch activities. Its financial contributions are meant as “seed money”, to persuade other actors to take part.

But the Government Buildings Service, with its targeted property development, is an important engine of urban renewal and catalyst of public-private partnerships. Run-down south Rotterdam, for instance, gained big-city allure when a courthouse and the “Kop van Zuid” were developed there. You’ll see it for yourselves on the excursion.

In the same way, the renovation of Den Bosch’s railway station and environs owes much to the construction of the law court complex.

And the success of the station and museum in Groningen has benefited from the accommodation of government services there.

New Key Projects Public housing at public transport hubs is a part of many publicprivate projects in urban areas. The goal is to revitalise cities and fight road traffic nuisance. The same is true of the New Key Projects (NSPs), but they also involve more.

The Government wants to use its heavy investment in the new high-speed railway line, the HSL, for urban renewal and for encouraging international companies to locate close to the HSL stations. The goal is to develop integrated areas around HSL stations. The New Key Projects include almost two million square metres of office space and 13,000 dwellings for people on average or higher incomes. These two elements are meant to make the cities richer economically and socially.

Problems Urban renewal and concentration around transport hubs and on New Key Projects face two major problems: the danger of disasters and the downside of cooperation between public and private parties.

In this small country, vibrant cities need to use space intensively and mix functions. But this ambition clashes with our policy of making major accidents less likely. We currently tend to accept no risks at all but fail to mention the consequences of doing so.

The other problem is public-private partnership. Everyone agrees that the public and private sectors should work together, but the results are not yet convincing. The big New Key Projects that still have deficits in their budgets will have to prove that the actors concerned can come to terms on their investments and levels of ambition.

Although everyone agrees that partnerships are a good thing, the nature of the cooperation between public and private parties can be controversial. Last year, for instance, there has been a parliamentary inquiry into the unlawful contacts and the agreements between building companies that indicated the existence of a kartel in this sector.

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More uniform rules on separating responsibilities may help combat abuses, but they must not detract from the awareness of shared responsibility for achieving social objectives. This is, after all, the basis of public-private projects in urban renewal.

The key notion in dealing with these problems is transparency: openness among all parties, showing what you’ve agreed, allowing yourself to be checked. And involving the public in socially relevant projects where the Government plays a major role via its property investments.

The image of the Netherlands Social relevance certainly applies to the projects of the Government Buildings Service, which has the experience to renew our cities, watches over our cultural heritage, and cherishes art and quality. The Service also works on projects that define the image of the Netherlands.

Under its direction, for instance, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is being refurbished, and Eikenhorst House in Wassenaar is being renovated for Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima. With the new justice and interior ministry buildings – and an important stake in the reconstruction of The Hague’s railway station area, the Government Buildings Service is redefining the skyline of the civil-service district.

I assume that your own organisations are no less ambitious than the Government Buildings Service. Your principles and working methods will probably be different from ours. I hope that you will enrich us this week, as I expect our experience will help you to develop new ideas.

Thank you.

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Monday

2.

Monday: Quality Through The Ages Shaped By Society

2.1

Keynote

2.1.1 Buildings as landmarks in history,

by Henk Hofland Introduction Henk Hofland is especially famous as a columnist of the big Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad, wherein he writes under his own name H.J.A. Hofland, as well as under the pseudonym S. Montag.

He is also a writer of novels. His most famous book is “Tegels lichten” (1972). In the end of 1999 he was announced the Journalist of the 20th Century by his colleagues. His contribution will learn us that each building stands for a period of time, culture and prosperity. Therefore when buildings loose there function and are demolished a part of a lands culture is destroyed. With his speech Henk Hofland takes us on a journey through time, international borders and cultures by discussing some of the finest pieces of architecture in the world.

Presentation Ladies and gentlemen, Large buildings are the DNA of a nation. That, in brief, is the proposition I would like you to consider. It sounds simple enough, but the truth is a great deal more complicated. DNA, in the usual scientific sense, is the permanent and immutable hallmark of an individual. Whether you are a toddler or a grandmother, a king or a slave, your DNA will never change. In the case of a nation, it’s different. By constructing huge buildings, a nation shows itself as well as other nations what stage of civilization, cultural development and power it is at. The way in which steel and stone are shaped reflects a particular identity, and more particularly, in this case, the state in which that identity finds itself. Let me give you a simple example from everyday life.

Travelling by train from Utrecht to Amsterdam you will pass a number of large buildings as you approach the capital, all of which reflect the state of the Dutch nation at the time they were constructed. The first, to the left of the railway line, is the Amsterdam Medical Centre, a grey monolith, harmoniously composed of rectangular shapes and housing within its walls the state of the art

Figure 1: Amsterdam Arena

in nursing and medical care. This establishment is nicknamed the ziekenfabriek, or ‘patient factory’ in English. Then, on the left, the Amsterdam Arena comes into view, a football stadium that looks rather like a gigantic flying saucer. A bit further on, to the right, you will see a high-rise complex of five separate tower blocks that might at first sight look like ordinary apartment buildings. In a way that’s just what they are. As you come closer, you discover that they are surrounded by a moat and a wall with barbed wire on top of it, and that the windows are barred. In fact this is a modern prison, nicknamed Bijlmerbajes, or ‘Bijlmer Brig’, after the district where it stands.

These three buildings mirror the state of the Dutch nation during the last quarter of the twentieth century. The Dutch had come to realise that their country had been reduced from a world power to what they themselves sometimes call “the smallest of the medium-sized powers”. Apparently that was the modest part the Netherlands was destined to play in world history. Since the Second World War, however, the Dutch tried hard to leave their mark on the world stage by finding alternative methods of expressing themselves. The political parties, in a variety of alliances,

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One other Dutch national pride is football. Abroad we are often hailed as ‘Ajax’, ‘Croof’ or ‘Rijkaard’. I’m not quite sure about the current state of affairs in Dutch football because frankly I’m not a great sports fan. But I am sure all of you, and indeed the whole of the international community are aware that the Netherlands is a major football nation, or perhaps I should say was, or will be again.

That’s why the construction of a temple to this particular deity, the Amsterdam Arena, appeared to be completely uncontroversial.

Finally, the prison. Times have changed, even in the Netherlands, but as a nation we seem to persist in our conviction that punishment serves to make better people of those who have strayed from the straight and narrow path. Criminals abroad seem to agree that if you cannot avoid being caught, you are better off being caught in the Netherlands. Critics of light sentences claim that of all the world’s penitentiaries, Bijlmer jail is closest to a Hilton hotel. I don’t know if that is true, because so far I have stayed in neither myself, but it does seem that this prison, with a few relatively simple alterations and a new lick of paint, could fairly easily be converted into a budget hotel.

Figure 2: Bijlmer Brig Amsterdam

went out of their way to turn Dutch society into a model democratic community of healthy and tolerant people, whose needs would be looked after from the cradle to the grave. Indeed a model country – at least that’s how the Dutch saw themselves. That concept later re-emerged in the form of the ‘polder model’ for industrial relations.

This is the national mood, the ambitious perfectionism that gave rise to these three buildings. Admittedly, the Dutch health care system has produced some impressive statistics: the number of stillborn babies is among the world’s lowest, and the Netherlands is a fine country for people who want to live comfortably to a great age and die in relative luxury. Dutch men are currently among the world’s tallest. The Netherlands is even good to those for whom life has become intolerable, as this is the only country in the world where euthanasia has been arranged by law – a law that prescribes scientific practices and every possible precaution against abuse. Small wonder that the Dutch should have erected such a fantastically equipped temple of medicine to celebrate their achievements in these fields.

Significantly, these three temples built during a very recent era in Dutch cultural history, are quite distant from the historical city centre, where, during the Golden Age and for many centuries after, so many glorious structures were built. Amsterdam’s city centre boasts a number of monumental churches, which date from the time when its God-fearing citizens had just cast off the Catholic yoke. And let’s not forget the impressive City Hall by architect Jacob van Campen, with its splendid great hall, aptly named Burgerzaal, or Citizen’s Hall, built in honour of the Republic’s achievements. Ironically, this proud bastion of free citizenry in Amsterdam, one of the centers of the world at the time, is now known as the Paleis op de Dam, the Royal Palace on Dam Square, and is owned by the Dutch GBA. At certain times the palace is open to the public and tourists, who marvel at the symbols of so much power and freedom achieved in centuries past. But they don’t complain, they won’t rebel. After all, as I pointed out a few minutes ago they have their own, modern-day temples. In this constitutional monarchy the head of state has lost most of her power anyway. The citizens have placed their trust in the power of the welfare state, as anchored in the Amsterdam Medical Centre and in the towers of government and bureaucracy in The Hague, the seat of government. And in the football season they rely, of course, on the power of their team.

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Figure 3: Royal Palace on Dam, Amsterdam

Figure 4: Great Wall of China

I have chosen these familiar examples – familiar at least to the Dutch members of the audience – by way of introduction. However, great buildings the worlds over tell their story about the rise and fall of the powers that built them. As a category in its own right, large buildings are the most emblematic of the fruits of any civilization, in size, shape and function. They do not merely serve as a permanent spectacular display for contemporary witnesses. Each large building has its own life cycle that extends far beyond that of any generation.

Is it really as simple as that? No, it usually isn’t. Entrepreneurship is all about creating new combinations, to quote the great German economist Schumpeter. That’s also true for the creation of large buildings. In the course of time images add up, as it were, one on top of the other, and in that way they lay the foundations for the very largest of buildings. Take the Great Wall of China, for instance. Between roughly 800 and 500 BC, separate Chinese tribes had already built a fragmented collection of small walls.

These formed the basis from which the Great Wall concept could emerge. However, it took several centuries, approximately until 230 BC, before the time had come to merge all of these smaller walls into a single structure. It was not until 230 BC that the emperor Shih Huang-ti, or one of his generals, formed the notion of building a single wall to protect the entire empire. From our perspective, we may be inclined to regard that as a pretty obvious idea, and it is true that even then the concept was no longer truly original. But to what extent was it feasible, in those days, with the tools these people had at their disposal? The image developed into a plan, and the plan gained its own momentum. The emperor grew convinced that the idea was realistic, and he had the courage and the means to lay the first stones. Work continued throughout

The absolutely fascinating thought, a thought that bewilders me whenever I look at a major building, is that at some particular point forever lost in time, the building must have sprung from some mortal’s imagination. At conception, the building was no more than an embryonic image. But then, in the womb of that person’s brain, the embryo began to grow, irrepressibly, and its contours began to emerge. The image grew to a size that made it compelling, and began to obsess the mind in which it developed. It forced a way out, copied itself in the minds of like-minded individuals and was transformed into a construction plan.

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the subsequent millennium, and was particularly intense during the Ming dynasty, between the fourteenth and the seventeenth centuries. At some moment, twenty-four centuries ago, the first word must have been spoken about the Great Wall. The structure then gradually expanded into the most formidable fortification ever built and, incidentally, also became the world’s first highway, with a length of 3,220 kilometers. The Great Wall has lost all of its original functions, and today merely serves to generate respect for a great, but long-gone civilization. It is now the joint property of archaeologists and the tourist industry, and, up to this day, the only structure that can be seen from the moon; a true and unique man-made beacon in the solar system.

The fate that has befallen the Great Wall of China is one of the most fortunate for any major building: to be overtaken by history, but to weather the storms of centuries and be preserved and gradually to assume new functions. Such buildings end up – at least temporarily – as repositories of memories, complexes of halls, corridors and vaults whose walls not only have ears, but have also learnt the art of speech. Demolishing a large historical building means silencing the voice of history. Conversely, when we save Figure 5: The Reichstag, Berlin

Figure 6: The Reichstag, Torched

a large building from destruction, if only in the nick of time, we maintain a direct link with the past. But we can do even better. Let me give you a few more examples.

After its victory over France in 1871, the German empire was by far the greatest power on the European continent. The German emperor and his people felt the country needed an unmistakable, tangible structure to symbolize the power that had been amassed.

That urge eventually gave rise to the Reichstag, the home of the German parliament. It took quite a while, however, before that idea had taken shape. Architect Paul Willot’s design, inspired by the Italian renaissance style, won the competition and construction activities began in 1884. A decade later the building was completed. Then, in 1918, the German empire collapsed. From a library window, social democrat Scheidemann proclaimed the Republic.

Another fifteen years later, however, the new democracy came to an end. The Reichstag was torched, and the Nazis took advantage of the opportunity to take control. Twelve years later the building was so seriously damaged that there seemed to be little reason not to demolish it altogether. Two Red Army soldiers raised the hammer and sickle on the rooftop flagpole, a moment recorded

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for posterity by the Russian photographer Khaldei. His photograph convinced the world that the Third Reich had definitively been defeated. The enormous building was restored in the Sixties, and assumed its fourth function when a museum of democracy was set up within its walls. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the re-unification of Germany, Berlin was restored as the national capital and the Reichstag finally regained its original function as parliament building. Walls can, indeed, speak.

Another colossus from the days of the German empire is the former Reichsgericht in Leipzig. I don’t know what it looks like today, but in the days of the DDR it served as a museum. The two men accused by the Nazis of setting fire to the Reichstag, the Dutchman Marinus van der Lubbe and the Bulgarian Dimitroff, were tried in this very building. Van der Lubbe was condemned to death and beheaded; Dimitroff put up a ferocious defence and was acquitted.

I visited the museum in the mid-sixties. In the courtroom nothing had been changed: the faded green cloth on the judges’ table, the little fence behind which the defendants were positioned, it was all there and pervaded by a sense of history. It was 1933 again, the first year of a gruesome period. I spotted a little button on Figure 7: Centre Pompidou, Paris

Figure 8: Reichsgericht in Leipzig

the judges’ table. When I pressed it, the speakers hung up in the room emitted the voices that had been heard at the time. I heard Goering, the judge, the hysterical voice of the public prosecutor, and Dimitroff himself. The walls were not only speaking, they were screaming.

During a stay in Sofia many years later, but before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, I came across Dimitroff’s Mausoleum and found the hero from 1933 there, embalmed. I revisited Sofia a couple of years later, after 1990. The Soviet empire had dissolved; democracy and free trade had spread across Eastern Europe. I thought I might as well pay another visit to Dimitroff, but I couldn’t find the mausoleum. The site where it had once stood was now occupied by a McDonald’s restaurant.

This leads us to a number of pressing questions each future generation will have to answer. How much do we really want to preserve a large building? When are the arguments for demolition so convincing as to have become compelling? No clear-cut answers can be given. There are plenty of examples where regimes, democratic regimes, professing great respect for their country’s

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culture and history, have proved capable of carrying out the most barbaric demolition projects. Paris is a case in point. Until around 1970, the site of the present-day Centre Pompidou was occupied

by Les Halles, the city’s main market, also known as the ‘belly of Paris’, a typical example of nineteenth century architecture. Les Halles survives in the name of the underground station. Great writers of that era, such as Zola, Balzac and Maupassant, used the neighborhood as a setting for their novels. One of the oldest districts of Paris, it had become so run down that the council decided to demolish it altogether. It was beyond repair.

ned by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. Admittedly, the building has never been rivalled, and it has been a great international success ever since the day it was opened. No matter how often you’ve seen the structure in pictures, when you stand in front of it for the first time, you can’t help being overwhelmed by this huge, open machine. It has completely supplanted even the memory of Les Halles.

In those days, the resulting wasteland would automatically become a parking lot. In fact we still see this happening today. The void of Les Halles was a real eyesore however, and the president of the Republic, Georges Pompidou, took the initiative to do something about it. He decided it should become the site of a museum - not an ordinary museum - but one that would look like no other museum in the world, a ‘culture machine’, a ‘gigantic toy’ they called it, a building without parallel that would put Paris back on the world map of art, and this time, the map of ultra-contemporary art. This view eventually engendered the Centre Pompidou, desig-

Amsterdam has had a more or less similar experience. One of the city’s squares, Frederiksplein, boasted a huge building known as the Gallery, the only surviving section of the splendid Paleis voor Volksvlijt, or Palace of Trade, Crafts and Industry, the showpiece of nineteenth century optimism, which burnt down in 1929. Even as a mere remnant, the Gallery, still in a reasonable state of repair, was a true monument to the elegant cast-iron architecture that so characterizes towns like Spa, Karlsbad and Marienbad. Nevertheless, the Gallery, like so many other buildings, fell prey to the whims of fashion. The Amsterdam city council failed to understand that contemporary urban planning in a historical city could lead to nothing but consistent devastation, and decided to pull down the Gallery to

Figure 9: Palace of trade, Amsterdam

Figure 10: Former Pennsylvania Station, New York

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make space for the new head office of the Dutch Central Bank.

The plan was executed, and Frederiksplein, after it had been robbed of its treasure, could be added to the catalogue of urban planning disasters, including Vijzelstraat, a large section of Rokin and sizeable chunks of the city’s canal quarters.

There is one other example of this calibre: the demolition of Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, on 33 rd Street and 8 th Avenue. Pennsylvania Station was a matchless building, one of the best in the world, dating from the heyday of the railways; more beautiful even than Washington’s Union Station. In a remarkable display of shortsightedness, the New York city council decided to pull the station down. It took three years, from 1963 to 1966, to demolish Penn Station down to the last brick. The site is still a station, but the new structure is wholly underground, serving Long Island Railroad and Amtrak, as well as a hub of six subway lines. It may well be busier now than it ever was aboveground, but the new station is a sterile ants’ nest, an anonymous place without as much as a hint of elegance, completely oblivious of the great history of the railways.

Figure 11: People’s Palace, Bucharest

Let’s now move to Bucharest, the city that houses what may well be Europe’s largest building: the People’s Palace, commissioned by the Rumanian dictator Nicolai Ceaucescu. The traveller who sees it for the first time might well recall the famous words of the lady on the Titanic who asked for a whisky: “I ordered ice, but this is ridiculous.” This giant, too, devoured an entire city district.

Ceaucescu’s bid for eternity forced 20,000 people to move elsewhere. In a peculiar and unexpected way, his bid was successful: Ceaucescu was deposed and executed. But does that mean we should also pull down his stone heritage? No, it doesn’t. The palace has been recycled in the democratization process, and is now public property. Still, it remains a paradox in stone: a gargantuan mausoleum for a small dictator and a defeated system.

The first skyscrapers were built even before the First World War. Every time I’m in Manhattan I go on two pilgrimages. The first takes me to the Flatiron Building, at the point where Broadway and Fifth Avenue meet for a while and then part again, and are intersected exactly in the middle by East 23rd Street . I sit down on a bench in Madison Square Park to contemplate the hundred years of history that the Flatiron has witnessed, or to think of its Figure 12: Flariton Building

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Figure 13: Woolworth

Figure 14: The Thunderbird (1926)

designer, Daniel Burnham, or of nothing at all, just sitting there enjoying the general view: the traffic, the passers-by, the squirrels, the pigeons and the dogs in their special dogs’ playground.

When I look at the Flatiron, it strikes me that nineteen floors don’t make a skyscraper, not by a long chalk. But it certainly is a living monument. I can think of no other building that is more evocative of old New York than the Flatiron. It has always remained a highrise structure. I take a bite out of my hot dog, and reflect that a greater sense of peace and happiness couldn’t possibly befall a single human being.

The roar of the surf is accompanied by the screeching of gulls.

My second pilgrimage takes me to Coney Island. A tentative reconstruction effort is now under way, but for decades Coney Island was the Pompeii of pleasure. The Thunderbolt, the gigantic old roller coaster, was closed down years before it was finally demolished. Grass and shrubs had sprung up on the rotting wood between the rails where the trolleys used to come rushing past, and eventually this impressive structure vanished. Surf Avenue, also on Coney Island, is lined with small junk shops where Russian immigrants try to sell their decrepit furniture, rusty tools and broken mirrors. A lone jogger is running along the Boardwalk.

Then came the first phase of European self-destruction, heralding four years of war that ravaged buildings whatever their history.

The monument the Europeans built for themselves was a collection of ruins of cathedrals, railway stations and historical city centers: of everything erected by man on the face of the earth.

Photographs of cities in northern France and Flanders, where the battles were the fiercest, still have the ability to shock. The town of Peronne hosts the Memorial de la Grande Guerre, a museum exclusively devoted to destruction. Tourists can actually hop on a plane and make a round trip over the battlefields. The pattern

The Flatiron Building and Coney Island are among the most convincing symbols of Western optimism at the beginning of the previous century, a general mood that found expression in a revolutionary style of architecture that literally took to the air. The Woolworth Building is the most magnificent example. This architecture was meant to serve the people and to satisfy their rightful claim to unlimited entertainment, as was provided for the masses on Coney Island.

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Figure 15: Front; Chrysler building, Back; Empire state building

Figure 16: The Sportpalast, Berlin

of trenches has left scars in the crust of the earth – a true feat of landscape architecture.

But then a miraculous recovery set in. During the second half of the Twenties, a renewed optimism invaded the West and fanned an unbridled enthusiasm for construction. In many ways the Roaring Twenties resembled the decade that we ourselves have only recently left behind, and which I refer to as the Roaring Nineties.

In both eras, technical progress fuelled fast economic growth which, in turn, strengthened people’s self-confidence and generated further growth. For the first time, the Western nations that took part in this rush became convinced that they had discovered the secret of perpetual economic progress.

bubble had burst. In the wake of the crash, the world witnessed the depression in the nineteen thirties and the rise of fascism, with its demonstrative architectural glorification of power. The Sportpalast and Zeppelingfield, to mention just two great architectural projects by the national architect Albert Speer, were both intended to show the world that the Nazis were serious about establishing the Third Reich.

During the Twenties, this mindset was most emphatically expressed in the erection of new skyscrapers, such as the Chrysler Building; the world’s tallest when completed, but overtaken just a hundred days later by the Empire State Building. However, by the time the Empire State was formally opened on 1 May 1931, the tide had already turned. The 1929 crash had unmasked the twenties: in less than a week people discovered they had been trapped in a vicious circle of unbridled, unfounded optimism. The famous

The architectural plans drawn up during this period are perhaps even more telling than the structures that were actually built.

Hitler, who regarded architecture as his second calling, dreamt of a new Berlin intersected by a great axis, rather like the Champs Elysees, that was to connect two mega projects: a colossal triumphal arch at the one end and the Grosse Halle at the other, a building crowned by a dome sixteen times the size of St Peter’s in Rome. In fact the Grosse Halle was to have been the world’s largest building.

However, the impending war was a more pressing concern. The period after the First World War, with the threat of the Second looming on the horizon, gave rise to a very different type of struc-

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It was a brilliant idea of the Germans to turn the remnants of the Memorial Church in central Berlin, into a monument: that huge charred finger pointing admonishingly towards the future t.

After the war, the West once again showed its miraculous resilience, although perhaps it was not so much of a miracle to those of us who are old enough to have witnessed a substantial part of the Cold War – say ten or twenty years of it. We simply got used to that incessant worldwide struggle; it became part of our daily lives.

The Cold War was a fact of life, and people tend to adapt to facts of life. They come to regard them as part of the normal framework of things, and go about their business as best they can.

Figure 17: Part of Maginot Line

ture, partially underground, in which horizontal lines prevailed. I am referring to the defense structures of the West Wall and the Maginot Line. Later, after the Germans had conquered the continent, they added the Atlantic Wall and the Flak Turme where they positioned their anti-aircraft artillery. Again we see those massive towers that call to mind medieval strongholds. With the exception of a few remnants along the Franco-German border and on the French coast, all those structures have gone: they were destroyed, bombed or demolished. In the Amsterdam area and near the Hollands Diep waterway, a number of concrete bunkers survive, built in the nineteen thirties as part of the defense system that was to protect the western provinces of Holland. Now serving as pigsties or tools depots, they are the ruins of a past era.

The past most convincingly emerges, however, from what we cannot or can no longer see. The Second World War most vividly comes to life when visiting some of the old European cities: Rotterdam, Coventry, Frankfurt, Dresden, Berlin. Nothing in the historical centers of any of these cities is more than half a century old. Or you might go to Japan and visit Hiroshima. The Second World War left a tabular Rasa in even more cities than the First.

Yet the reconstruction of the West after the Second World War is a much bigger achievement even than the recovery after the First.

Within forty years the old European empires, after a number of fruitless wars in Asia and Africa, gave up their colonies. The vanquished fascist powers transformed into democracies, and general prosperity and well being in the industrialized world reached unprecedented heights. And all of that took place while a battle with the world powers of communism was being fought to the bitter end, without a single shot being fired.

It is impossible to pinpoint the origin of optimism. It germinates, grows and disseminates among groups of people, cities and entire nations. The Sixties, during the Cold War, may have been a difficult period, but these years also witnessed great and decisive events in a whole range of fields: in art, literature and politics. This had to do with a new generation coming to the fore. The people who had experienced the Great Depression in the thirties and then, after fighting the Second World War, laid the foundations for the reconstruction, made way for the younger generation. Despite the burden of the Cold War, a new era had begun, characterized, to quote Walt Rostow, by a new take-off.

Confidence in the future invariably engenders huge structures.

With hindsight, it seems quite logical that, in the early Sixties, the New York Port Authority developed the idea of building a World Trade Center. The winning design was by the Japanese architect Minoru Yamasaki. Fifteen years later the two magnificent towers were completed. They were the subjects of fierce criticism, especially during the first years, but the longer they were there, the more they developed into a powerful global symbol of new progress and internationalism. The Twin Towers were the new uni-

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Figure 18: The Twin Towers

Figure 19: Berlin Wall

versal emblems of success. New York was the capital of the world, and the silhouette of the Twin Towers merged with its skyline.

lapse of the Berlin Wall is the nineteenth century equivalent of the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution. However, it is the first event of such magnitude to have reached audiences all over the word in live reports: developments could be followed on TV from minute to minute. When the Berlin Wall crumbled, television secured the worldwide democratization of history and helped it complete the transition to the post-modern era. For large buildings, it has meant that, more than ever, they have come to serve as symbols. From this perspective, the implosion of the Soviet empire is anything but the much-quoted ‘end of history’; in fact, it marked the beginning of a new historical era.

In the Eastern Bloc, a couple of years before the World Trade Center project was born, governments began to realize that they were being pushed into a defensive position. The German Democratic Republic, or DDR, the most advanced of all people’s democracies, or satellite states, was bleeding to death. Via Berlin, where people could travel freely between all sectors of the occupying forces, refugees flooded into the West. Moscow and the DDR government decided the time had come for a more radical defense, and raised the Berlin Wall. In nature and construction, the Twin Towers and the Berlin Wall are diametrical opposites: the former proud, tall and open, the latter grim, massive and impenetrable – a recognition, in effect, of its opponent’s superiority.

In the end, the Soviet empire collapsed under the weight of its own internal flaws, before an armed conflict between the communist and democratic blocs had even begun. The non-violent policy of containment ensured that after forty years, the formidable opponent eventually imploded of its own accord. Historically, the col-

The first year after the end of the Cold War saw a debate, especially in the United States, about how the peace dividend should be invested. That debate ended when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and war broke out in the area. After that, the Clinton period began. His second term in particular evoked images of the Roaring Twenties. We will not easily forget this period. Reputed scholars discovered the New Economy and decided it should be spelled with capital letters. The New Economy proved to have an irrepressible globalizing effect. Once more the secret of perpetual growth

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Figure 20: Guggenheim Bilbao

From left to right, Disney castle, Neuschwanstein

appeared to have been discovered. For each individual, the end of history signified an assured future of health and prosperity. The mood in the West, as well as in the former Soviet Union and in the countries referred to at the time as the Asian tigers, was characterized by a blasé confidence in permanent economic growth.

Ludwig was a tragic dreamer. It soon turned out, moreover, that his dream world coincided remarkably with the dream world of by far the majority of his subjects. Only a week after he had died under mysterious circumstances, during a boat trip on Lake Starnberg, the first tourists had found their way into his bedroom.

Many years later, Disney followed suit. Neuschwanstein became the prototype of all tourist castles, the architectural event composed of German-style towers, turrets and battlements. If there is any building that heralded the era of the event, it is surely Neuschwanstein. Built between 1869 and 1892, it was clearly ahead of its time.

All of this reverberated strongly in the arts, literature, film and indeed in construction and architecture. The spirit of the times, as well as market pressures, encouraged creative talents to focus on diversion and entertainment, on the continuous renewal of content. This trend left its mark in architecture as well, celebrating buildings as events.

Let me give you two examples: the castles in the Disney theme parks and the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry. All Disney castles are derived from Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, the fairy-tail castle that King Ludwig the Second commissioned for his private entertainment. Neuschwanstein, built after a design by the artist Christian Jank, was inspired by German mythology and by the operas of Richard Wagner. It is an architectural cliché such as might occur in a dream. Not surprisingly,

Frank Gehry, in his own ultra-contemporary way, built another Neuschwanstein for the visual arts: the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Construction began in 1993 and was completed in 1997.

Perhaps you like it, perhaps you don’t. The whole idea of beauty and your personal opinion about it is irrelevant. Everybody knows this bizarre structure of gleaming titanium, but not many people knew where Bilbao is, or were even aware that it is a place-name, before Gehry left his mark there. The museum has put Bilbao on the map. The funny thing is that tourists do not visit the museum

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to admire the collection, but principally to admire the museum itself. It seems that the museum and the collection have swapped functions. The museum has become an event, and also, in this particular case, a structure that perfectly expresses the spirit of its time.

The continuously expanding post-industrial world of the Roaring Nineties increasingly narrowed down its external perspective.

Politics had been replaced by the economy, and the economy served to guarantee an ever richer, more varied and more rewarding life for every individual that joined the general thrust forward. The rest of the world was sure to adapt itself in due course and until it did, it had no role to play. Indeed, we had declared the rest of the world irrelevant.

Then came September 11, the day of the horrendous attack. The destruction of the Twin Towers was the second major event in the post-modern phase of history, after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Again, a worldwide revolution could be seen unfolding itself live on television, and again with the same images repeated ad infinitum.

I don’t think this is a suitable occasion for me to give my political interpretation of nine eleven. What I would like to stress here is that this attack put an end to the widespread illusions of permanent progress and invulnerability. Our own optimism, however natural we might have felt it was, our belief that permanent progress could be taken for granted, were swept away with the collapse of the Twin Towers. That’s the heart of the matter. The Roaring Nineties gave their parting shot in the form of a shocking revelation. To our dismay we discovered, within the space of only a few hours, that the real world differs from our illusions and forces us, once again, to fight for our happiness. Today, less than two years after the event, we are still busy trying to identify and understand the consequences of that discovery, and to adapt ourselves yet again.

Has post-industrial civilization been forced on the defensive?

Not long after the attack, a New York art dealer and architecture specialist, Max Protetch, took a historical initiative by asking several architects of world renown to submit their designs for a new World Trade Center. He did so even before the Port Authority announced its own architecture competition. The results were gathered in a book called ‘A New World Trade Center, 58 designs,

drawn and described’. At the time I wondered what my own design would have looked like. My first impulse would have been to take revenge on the attackers by building something even bigger, more vibrant, and more impressive than the original.

That feeling in fact beset many of the participating architects.

Their designs reflect grand visions; yet there are also images full of poetry, beauty and playfulness. Obviously, nobody allows the Roaring Nineties to be taken away from him just like that. Many of the designs, I fear, betray a sense of longing for lost innocence. Reality in the period after the attack was the reality of fear.

Office workers refused to go back to their desks on the higher floors, insurance premiums reached astronomical levels, and the economic downturn had acquired a particularly grim aspect in Lower Manhattan. Suddenly, playfulness and high-rise structures seemed part of a fairy tale world that no longer existed. Reality was, and still is, very much pervaded by a defensive mood, everywhere in the metropolis, at the airports, in public buildings and in the daily news shows. One design, by the British architect Ben Nicholson, a design with, I suspect, some satirical undertones, seems to have been created in anticipation of what may become the new spirit of the age. Nicholson designed a well as deep as the World Trade Center was high.

These are times of war and we are living on the borderline between a shriveling sense of optimism and growing pessimism.

Post-industrial civilization is immensely strong and boasts reserves of resilience that have so far hardly been tapped. The question we are concerned with today and tomorrow is how the current unsettled mood will be reflected in architecture. Are we in for armored high-rise structures, fitted out with electronically controlled anti-aircraft equipment and entrance areas that bring to mind Checkpoint Charlie in the Berlin Wall? Are our major institutions to be moved underground altogether? Is life in our big cities to be governed by a continuous state of alertness, as indeed it already is? Or will a new era of peace emerge five years or so from now, more global and more stable than the peace we have lost?

Whatever the case may be, cultures will continue to express themselves in large buildings. My single wish is that I may see the newest and largest building in the world, ten years from now.

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2.2 Workshops 2.2.1 Workshop 1: “Buildings that last” Introduction This workshop was held by Marcel Dewever and Hans Cox. Marcel Dewever used to work with the Dutch Government Building Agency as director of the Government Buildings Agency for Eastern Netherlands and the environmental inspector for government accommodations. After his retiring he began a consultancy practice for sustainable building and he is the founding father of the environmental index presented in the book “Buildings that last”.

Continuing on from this he is currently carrying out research for his doctoral thesis: “How can we balance the three P’s – People, Planet and Profit – in building plans?”.

Hans Cox works for the Dutch Government Buildings Agency and acts as project leader of so-called “Demonstration projects on sustainable decision-making”. These projects aim at demonstrating ways in which sustainability can be achieved in the built environment.

This workshop handled sustainable working environments in buildings that last. This workshop focus on how management can realise “buildings that last” and on the experiences of TWN members with success and failure in realising it.

Workshop The workshop began with a short introduction of the book “Buildings that last” which the participants of the workshop have received. The goal of this workshop was to formulate a joint statement of sustainable sound working environments in buildings that last, with the different governmental real estate organisations.

Marcel explained how much a workplace is used and how economic lifetime expectations and physical lifetime are taken into consideration. His conclusion is that the buildings efficiency is only 5% of the possibility.

Marcel described the instrument of “One number says it all” which points out the sustainability of buildings in one index number. A poster with explanation and examples of buildings rated on the index was provided for the participants of the workshop.

The impact of a building on the environment is done by four modules; materials module, energy module, water module and mobility module. Also the hidden environmental costs are taken in consideration and together with the four modules an environmental index is calculated. The average building in 1990 is taken as a base and has the index 100.

A question from a participant was why there are also examples on the poster of buildings that are not built yet. The reason for this is to be able to see in the design stage of a project what the environmental impact is of the proposed building, and so that a more explicit choice of environmental end result can be made.

Another question was why it is chosen to make an index in a hundred system. This is done to have an index like the AEX stock exchange index in The Netherlands which is also in a hundred system. The index is thereby comparable to a system that is familiar in the national context.

The next question was why so many new buildings score relatively low while older buildings score relatively high. This is because of the building’s life cycle that is longer for older buildings than for average buildings, which makes the environmental index higher.

Marcel explained that four bureaus where invited to design a building for the year 2040 on an existing site in the Hague with a high environmental index. The conclusion was that indexes over 1000 were possible in the future.

The next question for discussion was how to make the gap smaller between low and high environment index.

First, the delegate from The United States explained that they also have a sort of index of environmental issues for buildings. Their index is divided into four modules; 1. Material module 2. Site module 3. Quality module 4. Building interior module This index is made together with private partners and resulted not in hundred-scale index but in bronze, silver and gold scale.

The modules differ from the Dutch index because of differences in land-use and climate.

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The delegate from South Africa explained that larger private companies do some things on this issue but the government not yet.

There is no written policy yet on this issue.

Joint opinions on buildings that last from TWN-participants from Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, United States

The Norwegian delegate missed the client/customer perspective of the index because the environmental cost that becomes clearer in this index are than paid by the client.

Sustainable housing in fact is: more pleasant to work in, higher productivity, cheaper regarding life cycle costs and better for the environment. These are qualities that are often asked for but hardly ever delivered.

A remark was made that the index shows the extra environmental revenues also in relation to extra building costs but not in relation to extra non-environmental benefits.

The delegate from The United States says that governments can be leading as a role model in this perspective, which does the private sector less. But we as governmental organisations have to prove this to the public. He sees the role of his organisation to be a “living laboratory” of finding new systems.

The initiative phase traditionally addresses topics such as: site selection, selection of architect, (public, private) partnerships, and building budgets. In the pre-initiative phase discussions should address: mission statements, values, image, moral leadership, etc.

Sufficient attention, focus and time in the pre-initiative phase are essential for corporate real estate organizations that strive for excellent business performance.

Finally, the participants were asked to point out the do’s and don’ts for using this index.

Background on Buildings that last Buildings that last are not about bricks or adobe, about cladding of aluminium, or about the difference between natural and mechanical ventilation. A vital key to buildings that last is sustainability.

Sustainability is about the physical, social, and cultural environment in which a public or private organization is accommodated.

During the workshop participants identified useful do’s and don’ts for corporate real estate organizations that aim at sustainable sound working environments in buildings that last.

Strong do’s in public CRE 1. Develop living laboratories for data collection on the economic benefits of sustainability 2. Government agencies should show leadership in advocating sustainability as standard policy 3. Put more effort in quantifying economic benefits, especially in comparison to the market sector 4. Balance all the current issues like security, heritage, and sustainability

Strong don’ts in public CRE 1. Don’t take a short-term perspective in a long-term governmental setting 2. Don’t decide on the basis of initial cost but on life cycle cost

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2.2.2

Workshop 2: “Future of history”

Introduction This workshop was held by Leo Hendriks and Corjan van der Peet.

The present main field of Leo Hendriks is ‘Quality of the built environment’ as senior research manager and researcher at Dutch Government Buildings Agency. As a researcher Leo is involved in different international networks.

Corjan van der Peet is art historian and senior advisor on historic monuments and sites at the chief state-architect’s office (Atelier Rijksbouwmeester), part of the Dutch Government Buildings Agency. Corjan van der Peet has published books and articles on various architectural-historical subjects. Special interest in the history of state-architecture, from the Middle Ages up to the present.

In this workshop, Leo Hendriks and Corjan van der Peet guided the participants through the best monuments of the Dutch Government Buildings Agency, where they did some fine research.

There was also a discussion with the TWN members about decision processes where cultural heritage is involved and the Dutch experience with a methodology of value assessment.

Workshop In the Netherlands, many different periods have influenced the way people thought about architecture and buildings in general.

We had the period of “De Stuers”. In this period, iconology, the meaning of things was very important. Not only the objective facts count, but also the things they stand for.

In the late 19th century, nationalism had his influence in Holland.

The Rijksmuseum is an example of this influence. This building was for Dutch citizens “not just a building” but also an item of the state. It was built in the style of the 16th century, late gothic. The ministry of Justice and a post-office in Arnhem are buildings with a same kind of function and story.

There was also a Friedhof period, in which one built simple, but monumental buildings. After World War II, the nationalism came back. Also the interest of bricks was very present. The building of the ministry of LNV (agriculture, nature and fishing), built in the 50s’ is a good example of this. In the 60s’, one saw buildings not only in a practical way, but also as a way to make a statement: “the state is everywhere”.

Physical planning The naval port in Den Helder exists of old buildings, and one doesn’t know what to do with them now, now they lost their function. To decide whether to keep the building intact, or remove it, people have done a lot of scientific research. A lot of documentation (publications, portfolios, project evaluations, descriptions) and communication exists. We have to weight the values of an old building from a holistic viewpoint. Then, you’re making the future!

How to start a process of renovation or renewal?

Communication and ICT is very important, and have to be behind the decision-making. There is so much information about a building and we have to use this information. The cultural and historic values have to be integrated with the maintenance of the building.

Theme 1 Assessment of cultural historical values still is often made from the perspective of historians. To have assessments that are fit for decision-making they have to be translated.

Theme 2 How to organise the decision to be made in a way that cultural historical analysis leads towards improving long-term quality?

Example: Broadcasting was difficult after World War II. To keep contact with Indonesia, a building was built in Kootwijk. Years later, the building had no function any more, so KPN, the Dutch telecom corporation, wanted to demolish the building. They asked the state if they could do this, but the state decided that this building has a cultural and historical meaning. As a result of this, KPN now has to find a new function for the building.

Theme 3 For area development and related social aspects improving integrated quality presupposes the use of communication and interactive tools that support this.

Are your organisations working on this?

USA:

We have an organisation that looks after monuments.

Netherlands: We do too, and the discussion is now if buildings, younger than 50 years, can be monumental as well.

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There are buildings, younger then 50 years, who represent inspiring architecture.

Sweden:

We have the same discussion in Sweden. There is a certain “untouchability” of buildings, it is sometimes in discussion with reality. The reasons that a building cannot be touched, have to be explicit. What can we change, and what not? Not only the sight of the building, also the use of the building can sometimes not be touched. The statement: “this can not be touched” is from a historical point of view. It can be touched, but you have to know how it has been, and ICT is then very important.

USA:

We have a policy that we try to find a new function for the (old) building, we feel responsible for the building. There is an example of an old building that became a hotel. The building is monumental, so the hotel owner was not allowed to break down a part of a wall to get the bathroom in. But, it is always better to have a user of the building, then no user at all.

With a user, you can make contractual agreements.

It is very important to be very explicit about the value, and to talk about the way the building must be handled. In the USA, there are lighthouses, that don’t have a function any more. We opened them up to the public. Organisations can hire the buildings, but they must be open for public for at least one week a year.

Netherlands: In The Netherlands, we have opened the naval buildings in Den Helder with a museum, a cinema, so there is a new function in the old wharf.

Question:

It is hard to recognize historical values since they are not always integrated in the maintenance.

Nothing is objective. What is important and what is not? What is the solution to this problem?

Answer:

There need to be more communication! You have to be proud of the building, and let your clients know that you are proud, so your clients can be proud as well. The government has to take commercial risk to preserve monumental buildings. The government

must use the money earned for monuments. Our goal is not to make profit, but not to make too much loss, and to give a boost for the environment.

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2.2.3

Workshop 3: Actual items of TWN members

Introduction In this workshop, three actual items were brought up consecutively by Petri Lehtola from Finland Post, David Bibb from the U.S. General Services Administration and Mike Hawkes from Public Works and Government Services Canada.

The chairman for this workshop was Harry Baayen, Deputy Director-General of the Dutch Government Building Agency.

Workshop 1. The actual item brought up by Petri Lehtola concerned ownership strategies. What kind of premises should you own and what should you rent? And how should you deal with flexibility for business changes?

The discussion that followed was dominated by examples from the German Deutsche Post that has also faced problems with their ownership strategies. In Germany, the sorting offices have been forced to move to locations further away from the cities due to logistics reasons. Analysts at the German Post organization say that they have to get out of real estate business completely and focus on their core business where the return on investments is much higher. The development at the German Post is going the same direction as the Swedish Post. Small post offices are closed at places where there is little need for them and at these places post business is assigned to super markets or other shopkeepers.

For instance, in 2001 the Swedish Post more or less sold all their real estate except for two premises in Stockholm – the head office and a strategic premise. This is also the development in Finland and in the U.S. The Dutch Government Buildings Agency finds flexibility very important and 25% of all their premises are being rented on the market. Also the American General Services Administration finds flexibility very significant. It is essential to think about the term of the lease, since long-term lease contracts do not lead to a high degree of flexibility.

2. The actual item brought up by David Bibb concerned use of performance measures. What is being measured? Are the measures driving positive organizational performance and good asset management?

The U.S. Public Buildings Service (PBS) has developed nine measures that are balanced between direct bearing on customer and primarily a financial slant. The nine measures are: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Ordering official survey Tenant customer satisfaction survey Regional threat assessment (Security etc.)

Realty services transaction survey (How fast is the service?

Etc.) Data accuracy (How much is vacant? What do we own? Etc.) Funds from operation (Profitability etc.)

Percent of potential revenue (How much could we collect if nothing was vacant? How much do we collect?)

Construction: on schedule Construction: on budget

The list of relevant measures could of course be much longer, but it is of great importance that the number of measurements stays manageable. Regions that meet the goals are eligible to receive money from a bonus pool that successfully has driven the behaviour.

The Finnish Senate Properties also uses a number of performance measures, such as: - Customer satisfaction - Project satisfaction - Personnel satisfaction - Benchmarking analyses for office buildings - Reputation studies Canada PWGSC uses a kind of building performance measure that also focus on the relation between tenant and property manager. They also use measures for tenant satisfaction and property management.

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3. The actual item brought up by Mike Hawkes concerned the difficulty of making good investment decisions with restricted financial resources and getting the capital to invest.

The German Post has the same problem. They are not supposed to refit the real estate unless they can get a yield of 15 %, which is equivalent to the yield of other investment within the post business (their core business). They are therefore forced to sell premises and not invest in real estate.

The Finnish Senate Properties has a collaboration called “SIFE� with Stanford University regarding investment decision-making.

The situation for the Dutch Government Buildings Agency is quite different. They can invest as much as necessary, as long as they have a customer who guarantees the rent.

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2.3

Site visits

2.3.1

Courthouse St. Annadal, by Hans Wijffels

Introduction Hans Wijffels works as architect for the Dutch Government Buildings Agency.

Presentation This building used to be a nuns hospital and later a university hospital before it got the function of a courthouse. You can see it by the fact that we are now standing in the former chapel of the nun’s hospital, recognisable by the ceiling in the library.

The courthouse was originally housed in the city centre of Maastricht and in the nineties the national government had a plan of building twenty new courts at the same time in several towns in the Netherlands in an operational lease construction. The discussion was to move the court from central Maastricht to the new Ceramique area on the riverbank of the Maas or to move to the St. Annadal site further away from the city centre. The decision was made to move to St. Annadal.

The urban structure is used as a layer in which the re-designed court should fit. Another challenge is the routing. In Dutch courthouses routing is an issue because visitors, employers and judges should use different routes so they will not meet. There were also other issues that should be taken into consideration. First, there should be re-used as much of the old buildings as possible.

Second, no park houses should be built on ground level and last but not least, the Court of Justice should have it’s own identity reflected in the building.

With these circumstances this former hospital building is re-developed in the way you can see today. After five years there is already a need for expanding the building to the growing number of cases that are held here. So the question now is how to do that, and therefore new ideas and plans are proposed. A short-term temporary housing is planned to fulfil the need for space in the near future.

Question:

What were the costs of re-use of the building compared to new built costs?

Answer:

The re-use costs were around 65 percent of new

build costs.

Question:

How was the interaction with the client?

Answer:

If you work with judges as clients than it’s always a delicate process in which they want to be heard.

Question:

The physical autonomous of the building can be in conflict with the expansion plans that are now made.

Answer:

Indeed, but there’s an unspoken rule that courthouses should be independent and that is represented in that it should be an autonomous building. We were not allowed to keep or create extra space in our portfolio on basis of expected expansions in the future. But now we have more possibilities for that.

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2.3.2

History of the Public Records Office in Maastricht,

by Jaques van Rensch

Introduction Jaques van Rensch is the deputy director of the Limburg State Public Record Office. In his presentation about the history of the Public Record Office he explained how this building became as it is today.

Presentation Ladies and gentlemen, In my capacity of substitute director of the Limburg State Public Record Office I would like to welcome you.

During the tourists season in Maastricht every day visitors report themselves at the reception desk, asking somewhat surprised what kind of building they have entered. From the outside it is undoubtedly a church and you don’t expect inside a public record office. In its long history the building accommodates the State Public Record Office in the Province of Limburg only during the last 120 years. Before that it served about 250 years for al kinds of military purposes, such as an armoury and hospital and it had its origin in the early 13th century as a convent of grey friars.

when the friars were expelled from Maastricht. This was more or less a consequence of an event in 1632, when during the so-called Eighty Years War (1568-1648) the town of Maastricht after a siege by the troops of the Protestant State General of the Dutch Republic was captured from the Spaniards. A few years later a conspiracy was discovered to hand over the town again to Spain.

Several inhabitants and monks of Maastricht, among which a few grey friars, were accused of high treason and after a court-martial condemned to death and executed. The heads of five conspirators were speared on a pike and put as a warning on the town wall, nearby the grey friars convent in a place that is still known as “Five Heads”.

Due to these events the order of grey friars had to leave Maastricht and their convent and church were confiscated and became state property, a situation that lasts until the present time. The friars removed all the movable goods, including the altar of Our Lady. After 1673 they returned and built a new convent. After many wanderings the statue of the Blessed Virgin and the altar were separated. During the 19th century the statue got a place in Our Ladies Church in Maastricht, the baroque altar ended in the attic of the Bonnefantenmuseum. Due to the fact that the museum had no interest in this altar, the remains of it were given back in 1995 to the Public Record Office, where they after 360 returned into the chapel they once stood.

The first church on this site dates shortly after 1234, when the newly founded order of friars minor of grey friars -the followers of St. Francis of Assisi - was granted permission to establish a convent in Maastricht. The community found a suitable open space near the recent (1229) built town wall. The present church replaced the originally small church during the 14th century, as examination of the annual rings in the original oak-roof has shown. The convent-buildings were located around two cloister-yards. The need of extension made it even in some time necessary to built over the nearby town wall (foundations were found in the courtyards during excavations in 1990).

Several traces of the four centuries of monastic life can still be seen, such as paintings in the vaults of the choir part, a so called ‘jubé’ or medieval screen-wall with a 16th century painting of the Annunciation, dividing the nave and choir and archaeological findings, of which is most important a part of a medieval tiled floor.

There is also a collection of medieval gravestones, with as most remarkable the monument of Johannes van Gorp, a famous doctor and man of learning, who was the personal physician of the sisters of the emperor Charles V, but who also wrote a book in which he proposed the theory that Dutch was mankind’s primal language.

During the Late Middle Ages the grey friars church was rather famous because of special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady ‘Stella Maris’ (Star of the Seamen). For her statue a special chapel was built, with a baroque altar, donated by the city council in the 1629.

After the expulsion of the friars the buildings were used for several military purposes such as armoury and military hospital. During this time Maastricht had a large garrison en the town was the main stronghold of the Dutch Republic and later on the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the south.

A turning point in the history of the building was the year 1638,

About 1880 the church was appointed as the new State Public

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Record Office in the province of Limburg. In that time in all Dutch provinces a building was assigned as a public record-office where records of historical importance from the pre-Napoleonic time were collected. This written heritage of the Ancient Regime in the Province of Limburg was not only considerable in quantity, but also historically seen very important for the history of Limburg and the Netherlands in general. They consist mainly of judicial en ecclesiastical archives. Among them is a charter on parchment from the year 950, the oldest written original document in the Netherlands, a range of medieval papal charters, charters from the medieval German emperors, some of them with golden seal.

Of European importance is also the archive of the ecclesiastical princedom of Thorn with its collegiate church, where until the year 1796 princesses and high-ranked noblewomen of the German Empire were educated.

During the 20th century more recent archives from the 19th and 20 Th. century were added. For one part these are the archives of state government institutions in the province of Limburg, such as courts of law, land registry, the registry office, state university, public notary ship, etc. and the records of the provincial government. For these official documents is laid down by law, that they have to be received after a certain period, normally 20 years, by the state public record office. On the other hand these governmental archives were completed with a wide range of so called private records, belonging to ecclesiastical institutions, owners of castles and historically important enterprises such as mining companies.

During the last 120 years church and convent several times were altered and newly decorated and furnished. In the 1880’s there was made complete new furniture in the popular neo-gothic fashion of that time. Part of this furniture is still present and was used to decorate the chapel of Our Lady Stella Maris. At the end of the 1930 the actual convent building was nearly completely demolished and rebuilt in a historical way. In those days the Limburg Public Record Office became one of the most modern archivebuildings of that time. By the end of the 1960’s this building didn’t satisfy anymore the demands of a modern record office. There was a great lack of storage capacity and a much to small reading-room for visitors. After many years of making plans, with or without money, at the end of the 1980’s the decision was taken to stay on the place were the record office had been located during the last 120 years. This was not the easy way, and we had a lot of problems to overcome. One of them was that it was not allowed

to build a large storage-room in sight. Building underground had also its difficulties because of the nearby flowing river Jeker. The period of building and restoration was organised in phases during 8 years with Marc van Roosmalen from the Government Buildings Agency as architect. The plan as a whole consisted in building storage rooms, located on three floors underground, with nine individual depositories that can contain 27 kilometres of archives.

Furthermore to restore the office building and church, in which a reading-room for the public was foreseen.

I would like to end this brief introduction with an outline on the present situation. At the moment the depositories contain about 12 kilometres of records. Al these storage rooms are equipped with an independent air-conditioning system a measures have been taken to protect the valuable archives from moisture, unstable temperatures, polluted air and fire hazards. Al archives are stored in acid-free, dust-free boxes in space-efficient mobile racks. Nevertheless the physical conservation needs our constant attention. And in this context I want to mention the problems and challenges we are dealing with in keeping electronic records for al long period.

The reading room in the church offers a place to about 80 persons.

At the moment we have about 10.000 visitors a year, of which the main part is doing genealogical research in record of the registry-office and old parish-records. At the moment we are dealing with new ways of service as a result of the computer and Internet.

These developments are not typical for Limburg, but are linked with developments throughout the whole world.

Important changes in the organisation are to be expected in the very near future this record office merges with the town record office. Staff and archives will be concentrated in the State Public Record Office, with a service point in the Centre Ceramique.

Ladies and gentlemen, the whole renovation of these buildings have coasted the taxpayers little less than 20 millions Euros.

Thanks to this investment a gem of medieval architecture has been preserved for al long period. Nevertheless we are well aware that such a building and its contents need our constant attention and care. With these ingredients we see it as our job to give good service to the public in this building on the basis of collection of records over a period more than thousand years. We are doing this in the most beautiful record office in the world. This is not my saying, but a quote of the former general director of the

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National Archives, Prof. Ketelaar, a man who has travelled all over the world and has seen more archive-buildings than I have. And who might I be to contradict him?

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2.4

Member updates

2.4.1

Member update 1:“Challenge of Zero-energy Post office”, by Shiro Natanai

Introduction Shiro Nitanai is the General Manager for the Facilities Development Division, Network Planning Department, Japan Post.

This members update will learn us how Japan Post combines sustainability and usability in their buildings.

At the first of April 2003 the Japan Postal Service Agency became a Public Corporation, the Japan Post. With this shift the responsibilities changed from Government Agency orientated to Public Corporation orientated. Within this “new” corporation Sustainable Design and Universal Design are two important aspects. Research is being done to improve both in Post offices throughout Japan.

Member update Sustainable design Sustainable design stands for: “sustainability for all the people living on the earth”. There are three goals on how the Japan Post wants to accomplish this: 1. Reduction of energy consumption 2. Reduction of construction impact to ecology 3. Planting of green/ native forests

It’s Japans challenge to make “zero-energy” facilities in long term. This means that no energy is needed when using the building. Some goals are set in the model shown below: Goal of this model is to cut down energy consumption and CO2 emissions (reduce greenhouse effect).

Test cases are already being measured. The Yobito post office in Hokkaido district is a good example a model 100 “zero energy” facility. In this district air-conditioning isn’t necessary in summer, and in winter little heating is necessary (there’s a lot of sun in a short time). So by improving energy efficiency, cutting down heating need and using solar energy this project was to be a zero energy building facility.

The energy needs are now being measured. It appears that solar electricity; heat load reduction and energy efficiency improvement can cope with all energy needs for this building except for the electrical needs of the machinery. The Yobito project is shown below: In the TOMO post office in Hiroshima district is a model 50 building facility, which means that 50 percent of energy savings should be possible. The outcome of this project is slightly more important than the YOBITO project because Hiroshima district has a typical Japanese climate. So when this project is successful, the concept can be used for the biggest part of Japan. Measurements tell us that the energy consumption is almost the same as was estimated before the project was built.

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In the designing process we need to take in consideration who in the future will be the dominant group within the total population of Japan. Who will visit the post offices the most? For whom is it important to build sustainable? Some facts: - In 2020, 25% of the total population will be over 65 year old - In 2040, 33% of the total population will be over 65 years old - To keep Universal service, all the post offices should be accessible - Eldery generation tends to visit post offices more frequently than younger generation Universal design is very important for post offices. Ron Mace introduces the principles of Universal Design in 1997: - Equitable Use - Flexibility in Use - Simple and Intuitive in Use - Perceptible Information - Tolerance for Error - Low Physical Effort - Size and Space for approach and Use

Figure 21: Tomo Post Office

Universal design Universal design stands for: “usability and accessibility for all the people with different abilities�. There are three goals on how the Japan Post wants to accomplish this: 1. An universal design standard (guidelines for building and planning) 2. An universal design review (design review in the process of building planning and design> operating with two teams.

One is making the design with a warm passionate hart and the other is objectively checking the design in each phase with a cold hart) 3. Japan Post’s manual book for employees (guidelines in operating post office facilities. Employees have to know Universal Design and have to give feedback)

Figure 22: Zero energy Post Office

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Universal Design should be a fundamental good design for all the people with different abilities and not a compensation for a bad design. This is summarized in the following diagram:

Figure 23: Zero energy Post Office

For the Japan Post this means: - Recognizable - Accessible - Usable - Safe - Comfortable

Figure 24: Universal Design

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2.4.2

Member update 2: “Sustainable Design at GSA”,

by Debra Yap

Introduction Debra Yap works at the U.S. General Services Administration as the Director of the Environmental Strategies and Safety Division. Three years ago, Debra Yap gave a talk at TWN about the emerging “Green Building” program of the U.S. General Services Administration. This is an update of what they have done over the past couple of years.

Member update Today, I’d like to give an update of GSA’s Sustainable Design program. The theme of the conference is “Quality of the Building and the Built Environment”. We at GSA believe that Sustainable Design or Green Buildings as we call it, is an inherent part of our vision.

Three years ago at the TWN in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to discuss the launch of our Sustainable Design initiative. We identified 3 components essential to integrating Sustainable Design into GSA’s Public Buildings Service: a) Commitment on Strategic level b) Processes and documents c) People In this presentation I would like to briefly describe: 1) What we’ve done over the past 3 years in Sustainable Design; 2) Share examples of success stories; and 3) Describe new challenges and directions in Green Buildings.

First of all, I would like to review some Vital Statistics. GSA is the largest civilian landlord in the U.S. Government. We house over 1.1 million federal employees in GSA-owned and leased space. We have over 1,600 GSA owned buildings comprising 17 million Square Meters and over 6,400 leased properties comprising 14 million Square Meters.

1) What have we done in our Sustainable Design initiative to date? a) On Commitment: The Sustainable Design program continues to enjoy commitment at the highest and most strategic level. In fact, under the current administration, there is even greater interest in expanding the Green Building initiative across all federal agencies and it has become a key initiative of the Administration’s Federal Environmental Executive.

In addition, the general trend towards integration and holistic planning and design is of greater importance during these times of ever-scarcer resources both financial and natural, if you will. b) Processes and Documents: As we embarked on this program, we targeted each major business process and their associated documents. This included: - A requirement for LEED in our Capital Program for new construction and major modernization. Our goal is a building rating of LEED Silver.

- Modification of our Facility Design Standards - Modification of our standard Solicitation for Offers (SFO) for Leased properties.

- Modification of our Selection Criteria for Architecture/ Engineering Design Firms.

To clarify, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It’s a building rating system developed by the US Green Buildings Council (USGBC), a “Third-Party” organization. Adoption of the LEED Rating System brought us both a common understanding and definition of “Green” Building as well as a method of measuring the “green- ness” of a building. There are four rating levels in the system: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum with Platinum representing the highest achievement.

Our goal is to achieve a Silver LEED rating. The categories used to rate/measure LEED are: a) Site – Optimize Site Potential b) Water – Protect and Conserve Water c) Energy – Minimize Nonrenewable Energy Consumption d) Materials – Use Environmentally Preferable Products e) IEQ – Enhance Indoor Environmental Quality f) O&M – Optimize Operational and Maintenance Practices In 2001, the GSA became the first federal government member of the USGBC. Today, 4 buildings/projects have achieved a LEED Green Building Rating, one of which achieved a Gold rating! In addition, there are 20 projects registered with the USGBC working towards a LEED rating. c) People: It goes without saying that the strategies identified above: 1) Commitment at the strategic level and 2) Changes to processes and documents, can force change, but change will be better realized when we engage those people directly involved in the process.

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Over past 3 years we have trained nearly 2,000 associates and clients on the principles of Sustainable Design and what GSA is doing to enable change. We have developed tools and guidance. We have maintained a network of green building Points of Contact in each of our regions. Most significantly, we have supported and cultivated a working relationship with those Project Managers and Realty Specialists who have been advocates of Green Building. Because not only will THEY deliver the program, they will model it.

We are now in our 3 rd year of sponsoring regional competition for awards in Sustainable Design; Use of Recycled Material; and Construction Waste Management (CWM).

In addition at the Federal level, David Bibb’s Office Of Real Property sponsors government-wide competition that recognizes Innovations in Real Property. Sustainable Design is a recognized category in that competition.

2) Some examples of success: Slide Show Ariel Rios Federal Building, Washington, District of Columbia. This is a recently renovated Historic Building that illustrates how we have adapted and preserved the advantages provided by older, larger configured windows and higher ceilings with the modern need for mechanical and electrical systems.

EPA Regional Headquarters, Kansas City, Kansas. This building occupied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was a pilot project for Version One of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System of the U.S. Green Building Council. It was a “Build-to-Suit” lease which we rent at the current market rate for Class A space.

The building features a large atrium with each office floor stepped back from the one below it. Light shelves have been integrated into the overall design of the building serving both aesthetic and functional purposes. In the central atrium, the floor set backs allow a maximum of natural light to enter the space. A canopy of green trees on the first floor helps to separate the conference/meeting rooms from the office space above. The fountain on the ground floor helps to add humidity to the dry air, while also serving as background, or “white” noise – muffling the impact of office sounds from above.

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The EPA Regional Administrator says, “This building is designed to just make you feel good - it’s so light, it’s so bright - the fact the natural lighting saves on energy makes it good for the people too.”

Alfred A. Arraj, U.S. Courthouse, Denver, Colorado. The Denver Courthouse Annex is GSA’s first Model Showcase Green Building.

It was dedicated in October 2002 with the first court case in November 2002.The building is 29,729 Square Meters with 14 courtrooms. It features energy efficient lighting, photovoltaics, automated building systems, daylighting, light shelves and a high performance curtain wall.

Four Projects earning the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s LEED rating: 1. Social Security Administration Renovation, Woodlawn, Maryland.

GSA’s first building to achieve a LEED Rating is a renovated building in Woodlawn, MD. By reusing the structure, we avoided $25 million in new construction costs. By recycling and reusing materials, we realized a construction cost savings of $310,000.

Other Sustainable features: - Thermal ice storage for peak demand “shaving” & energy cost savings of 25% - Large new skylights bring daylight into the lower floors of the building 2. Social Security Administration Child Care Center, Woodlawn, Maryland.

Located on the same campus as the Social Security Administration, the Child Care Center also received a LEED Certification. 98% of the regularly occupied spaces have access to daylight and natural views. 38% of all materials used were manu-

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factured locally and 75% of all Construction Waste was recycled or reused. The adhesives and sealants used in construction and build-out did not contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s).

3. Federal Building/U.S. Courthouse, Youngstown, Ohio.

This is the first Courthouse to receive a LEED Green Building rating. It was built on a former “Brownfield” site in a Central Business District. 62% of the materials used were manufactured locally and 72% of all project debris was recycled. Of note, 7,339 Square Meters of previously paved area was restored and planted with native or adapted vegetation.

4. EPA New England Regional Lab, Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

This is GSA’s first lab to receive a LEED rating and the first project in GSA to earn a “Gold” rating. The Sustainable features include: - Photovoltaic sunshades - Light tubes and skylights bringing natural light into the office areas - Reusing a rock ledge at the construction site for retaining walls - 100% wind power purchase - Single pass system forces 100% outside air GSA currently has 20 projects that are registered for LEED and may one day earn a LEED Building Rating. Among these projects are: - U.S. Courthouse, Springfield, Massachusetts which will feature geothermal heating/cooling; - Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse, Cleveland, Ohio, one of our historic buildings built in 1910. The renovation will pilot Construction Waste Management and will take advantage of existing light wells in the Central Atrium.

- Department of the Interior, Washington, DC is approximately 121,000 square meters and is also one of our historic buildings (1939!) undergoing modernization. Completion is scheduled for 2008. Sustainable features include a Green Roof and the use of Construction Waste Management to salvage materials for spare parts and replacements. In addition, a very ambitious initiative to use Environmentally Preferable Finishes is underway.

- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Suitland, Maryland will feature a 12,077 square meter green roof. In addition to an aggressive Stormwater Management plan, only 20% of the site will be impervious to water after construction – including the parking pavement.

Moving beyond Sustainable Design the GSA Adaptable Workplace Lab, Washington, DC brings together the elements of sustainability with workplace environments. Here we see: - Maximum flexibility for future workplace changes - Separation of conditioning and ventilating air - Under floor air distribution for individual control of ventilation - Plug and play connectivity under floor for phones, computers, and electricity - Efficient ambient lighting Other projects with Sustainable Features include: - Raised flooring for ventilation and plug and play as demonstrated at the new Federal Campus in Oklahoma City, Okalahoma; - Our most innovative project is the Federal Building in San Francisco, California. It will be 20 meters wide, allowing all employees access to natural light and ventilation with sky gardens on the 10th floor. A sunscreen with daylight sensors brings in light and air on the south face promoting natural ventilation in the Tower. Taking advantage of thermal mass storage, the building will cool down at night and maintain a cooler temperature as the outside environment warms during the day.

In Summary, we have built upon and expanded what we started 3 years ago: a) We have continued and expanded the Green Building initiative.

Our definition of quality design, and quality workspace now includes sustainability as a consideration; b) We are now designing, constructing and modernizing buildings using the criteria established by the USGBC LEED building rating system; c) We continue to support the cadre of Green Building advocates by providing advice, guidance, tools and training.

3) What do we see as new directions and challenges for Green Buildings? a) Near term: Over the near term there is a growing concern about the Indoor Environment. We will need to address issues of: - Day lighting - Natural views - Ventilation and distribution of air - Fresh air These issues are particularly important as research links these elements to Workplace Productivity.

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In light of mounting public awareness of the health issues associated with Mold growth, Indoor Air/Humidity Control/Mold has become a rapid growth industry. We have seen the emergence of Mold as subjects of discussion among Industrial Hygienists and Health Professionals, Mechanical Engineers, Building Owners and Operators, Tenant groups, Insurance Companies and of course the ubiquitous lawyers as Mold litigation enters the multi-million dollar arena. b) Long term: While this may be specific to the United States we believe issues of biochemical hazards will lead us to examine protection of our indoor air. Indoor air presents a challenge both in terms of protection from contamination and protection against distribution of contaminants.

Conclusion Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Sustainable Design and Green Buildings will continue to pose both a challenge and opportunity for GSA. We hope to be able to share with you our progress and on-site visits when you join us at TWN 2005 in Washington, DC, USA. Again, a warm thank you to the Netherlands for hosting this year’s TWN and the hospitality they have extended to member countries.

2.5 Conclusions from Monday At the end of the day the delegates were divided in three groups.

Each group draw conclusions of what issues of today were the strategic issues and what aspects of this day’s keynote speakers, workshops and site visits were the most interesting elements to “take home”.

1. The Public Records Office and the courthouse St. Annadal are two excellent different examples of adaptive re-use a lot of historic impact, blending of old and new. Also with materials of today (stainless steel, glass etc.) In USA: not so much, they will try to launch this idea more.

2. Example of how to deal with values (workshop 1). Clarify your strategy to the object! General values change in time. Value statements should be made in early states. This is necessary for the project management. Note for historic/cultural values is essential for decision-making on preservation issues (linked with conclusion nr. 5) 3. Dutch ICT-system (DIA) worthwhile. Interesting with the presentation of the databases that give complete information on the building. Link with the database of the Deutsche Post. Webb enabling technique to get to the information.

4. The re-use of older buildings is not only for economic reasons, but also political reasons.

In Japan, the re-use of older buildings is not an option; they are made of wood.

Recent buildings are of steel and concrete; purpose change for those buildings (’40-’60) is possible.

The impact of materials on the quality experienced is strong.

5. Alternative uses of existing structure. Adapt special purpose buildings to users. How to identify possible users? Cultural / historical value – what is actually allowed to do with buildings of cultural and historical value, a church for instance. In Sweden there are an increasing number of empty churches that need be rebuilt for another purpose. In the U.K. is that a very difficult task because people are more attached with the church…

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What can be done with alternations of buildings in different countries? In some countries they are very creative on renovating and finding another purpose for monuments. But finding a user is more difficult. Controversially it is the other way around in other countries (money?).

6. Influence of policy and legislation on monuments is a fact.

Buildings can be seen as DNA of the society. More elaboration on the relation between preservation and PPS is needed.

7. We built for an organization, but the organization will remodel itself to a new building. Thesis: “we shape our building, then the building shapes our organization”.

8. Not only cost but also benefits should be taken under consideration on several levels (building-environment) and several issues should be included in decision-making.

9. Life-cycle cost analyses are good vehicles to communicate with investors/clients: example in Scandinavia where there is simple ways of exchanging experiences (e-mail, internet).

Performance measurements. You can have hundreds of performance indicators but it is better to have 5 to 10 indicators that really tell you something. Performance-measurement has to become a main issue.

10. Discuss the life-cycle costs in projects also in relation to the “green” issues.

11. Should you rent or own the real estate? What is your own primary task? What are then the criteria of owning or renting real estate? What has the highest return rate on investment?

Example: Deutsche Post 12. How can the public sector be a leader in development of sustainability? Need for national policy on sustainability.

Quantifying / indexing sustainability. Expressing sustainability in a number. Universal applicability. Need of united standards but must have respect for regional differences.

What is sustainability and which factors are the most important ones? Ranking of environmental issues. For instance, material reuse is sometimes less important in certain countries than energy

efficiency. We need international standards, but one must also respect local and regional differences.

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Tuesday

3.

Tuesday: Quality In The Eyes Of The Customer

Introduction Jo Coenen is a famous international architect, and since 2000 the Dutch Governmental Architect.

Tradition of architecture in the Netherlands By showing pictures of buildings and urban plans in history, Jo Coenen explains that new ideas spread up in society and are reflected in architecture. A red line in these pictures is that since the Netherlands have a tradition in shaping its land architecture is best done in relation with planning from town and city planning to regional planning.

This tradition of thinking in context is done by the state, by cities, on academy, in social life, in public buildings and also planning the environment.

3.1

Keynotes

3.1.1

Quality of the building, in Holland and at Ceramique,

by Jo Coenen

The state is building. Anyone travelling through the country can see the activities that are taking place at various levels. Tunnels being drilled in the open countryside, builder’s cranes defining the city skylines, building excavations at strategically situated stations.

But besides seriousness there’s also humour in Dutch architecture. An example of this Dutch humour was the idea of “pigtowers” to accommodate all the pigs that are held in some parts of the countryside in Holland. This to prevent the disappearance of the open space in the countryside.

Where does the Chief Government Architect fit into that spectrum?

The Chief Government Architect is the advisor of the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) and other ministries, and also advises the Director General of the Government Buildings Agency (Rgd).

The work as “Rijksbouwmeester” or Government Architect in English In the Netherlands, every five years a Government Architect is appointed. In 2000 Jo Coenen was appointed as Government Architect. One of the first things he did was the establishing of his own Atelier Rijksbouwmeester (ARBM) with an own office. This to have an own identity and place for workshops and meetings with people involved in the working area of the Government Architect.

The working areas are; 1. buildings, urban ensembles and arts: studies and research, 2. design of cities, regional planning and key-projects, 3. big projects, 4. propaganda 5. being on the advisory board.

With photos of different projects, he explains how these working areas are done in practice.

Jo Coenen, appointed Chief Government Architect at the end of 2000, has formulated the following spheres of activity for the studio: - Buildings, ensembles, national monuments and the visual arts - Urban design, regional planning and the new key projects - Big projects as set down in the architectural policy document “a design strategy for the Netherlands” - Stimulate (high quality) architecture and urban development by means of information campaigns, lectures, publications and judging. Offer advice to municipalities, provincial authorities, institutes and funds Presentation In this lecture Jo Coenen discussed the quality of the building in view of the fields of the Chief Government architect and his masterplan Ceramique.

Jo Coenen welcomes everyone to his hometown Maastricht.

He will talk about tradition in of architecture in the Netherlands, how he does his work as the Government Architect and explains how the Ceramique site in Maastricht is developed.

Explanation of Ceramique area in Maastricht Jo Coenen explains how the site where we are today is developed in recent years.

In 1987 the site near the river Meuse with the Maastrichtcity centre on the other side of the river was abandoned by the Sphinx factory.

In 1991 this factory terrain was demolished with an exception of a few old buildings that could be re-used.

Jo Coenen made a master plan in which connected the new street pattern with the existing surrounding areas. This master plan was

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also the framework in which the individual architects from all over the world had to work together.

After this master plan the process was to realise this with customers, future users, the city, project managers and so on. It is maybe a chaotic process but the best instrument there is to realise it. Jo Coenen explains the situation with pictures of the process of building.

3.1.2

Quality of the building from the perspective of the next generation, multimedia presentation by W4

In the end of his presentation he invites everyone for a short pause.

Bruce Rasmussen makes this question more tangible by telling a short experience about his 9-year-old daughter Bryn posing the ultimate question; “what is the effect of today’s choices for the (grand) children of tomorrow?”

Presentation The presentations of the following participants of W4 were shown; - PWGSC - USA GSA - Sweden Post - BCBC Canada - Dutch GBA - Deutsche Post

Introduction Wim Pullen introduced the multimedia films made by W4 participants presenting their organisations’ visions on quality in the perspective of the new generation; the “next generation”.

After a few films, Wim Pullen stops the presentation to reflect on rouse in the audience about seeing the same presentations two times in a row. This is done on purpose to reflect the different layers in the presentations; a short-term question about the factual and a long-term question about our personal and business values.

These short and long term questions will be further discussed in one of the workshops of that day: “Sustainable Vitality in Office Spaces”

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3.1.3

“Through a customer’s eye”, by Leonard Kok

Introduction In this contribution to the TWN 2003 a customer of the Dutch Government Buildings Agency, Leonard Kok, was invited to speak about quality of the accommodation, building processes and GBA services. Leonard Kok is Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice. With his contribution another point of view on Public Real Estate could be experienced.

Presentation Ladies and gentlemen, Ladies and gentlemen of The Workplace Network, good afternoon.

My name is Leonard Kok, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice. My duties in that position include responsibility for the support services of the department’s operations. Including its accommodation. And that is what I want to talk to you about – our department’s experiences with the Government Buildings Agency.

As can be seen from my CV, I have a financial background, not a housing background like most of you. Besides from my background the Government Buildings Agency’s invitation to me to speak here shows courage. After all, the Ministry of Justice has been the first client, the first other Ministry, to submit a complaint against the Buildings Agency to the Government Accommodation Complaints Board. And I have never before had the opportunity to give a general overview about customer relations in the general sense before the senior management of the Buildings Agency. So I hope that the Director-General and his people will listen carefully.

Presentation: working with the Government Buildings Agency Over the next three-quarters of an hour I will describe to you, in broad outline, how our co-operation with the Government Buildings Agency works, and illustrate it from a major new building project that we are working on at the moment. But first, I would like to introduce my Ministry briefly.

An introduction The most important task of the Ministry of Justice is to provide for a safe, just society. We have responsibility for penal institutions, the administration of justice, immigration, naturalisation and inte-

gration, child protection, forensic investigation and a number of other more minor matters. The Ministry’s 40,000 employees work all over the Netherlands. This figure of 40.000 does not include de number of 15.000 people in prisons, who also use the facilities and accommodations of the GBA. And for them in special “forced sourcing” is a basic concept. The administration department is based in The Hague. We lease around 700 properties, and our accommodation costs come to around €400 million. That makes the Justice Ministry the biggest Ministry in the Netherlands and the Government Buildings Agency’s biggest customer.

Quality of national government accommodation The theme of The Workplace Network is quality, and that is precisely what I want to talk to you about: the quality of accommodation in general terms, through the eyes of the customer called the Justice Ministry. And that story falls into two parts.

Firstly, I intend to talk about: - The quality of the government accommodation system. In our view, the present system is not completely satisfactory. And I will tell you why we think that. So it is nice to see that the Buildings Agency management are also here with us.

Then I will talk about: - The quality of the accommodation process within the present system. Here, I will look more closely at the apparently conflicting interests of the customer and the Buildings Agency.

The building of the new Ministries of Justice and of the Interior and Kingdom Relations serves as an example. As yet, we can say nothing about the quality of the building, as it will not be finished until 2008 at the earliest. What we can do, though, is describe our experiences in the new building development process so far.

Quality of the accommodation system A ministry with an accommodation problem automatically ends up with the Government Buildings Agency and has to deal with the government accommodation system, the system of rules and agreements within which central government works. The new accommodation system brought in with effect from 1 January 1999 is a great step forward. There are two fundamental changes by comparison with the old system that I would like to highlight.

1. Costs and benefits service instead of cash system The old system looked solely at expenditure. In the new one, both

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costs and benefits are taken into account. You can compare this with the way in which a property company keeps its accounts: although it’s not exactly the same. In our case, for example, the bank is the Ministry of Finance.

In the past, there was not sufficient budget available to pay for new buildings. Investment in accommodation suffered from the sharp cutbacks in Dutch government expenditure. The Ministry of Justice needed new prisons and courts to counter the increased criminal activity.

At that time, the Justice Ministry provided additional funds to the Government Buildings Agency from its own budget to finance new building. The Buildings Agency was not able to pay for the new (replacement) development. And when also the Justice Ministry had cash problems, very expensive financial and operational lease constructions with private companies were developed.

2. Leasing system In addition, the second fundamental change, we were given our own accommodation budget from 1 January 1999. We have to use this to “acquire”, i.e. lease, new accommodation from the Government Buildings Agency. We are required to do that.

Formerly, the Justice Ministry was allocated a property by the Buildings Agency. This resulted in a lot of moves and properties that were not really very suitable for the function accommodated in them. For instance, sub district courts with the courtroom at the top, making it difficult to secure the building.

In the new system, the customer can weigh housing expenditure against other types of expenditure. And that can benefit the operating processes and promote efficiency. Within the Ministry of Justice, there are particular managers responsible for this in each sector and in each jurisdictional district. In this system, we as the customer have much more of a chance of obtaining the accommodation we want at the time we need it.

To illustrate this, here is an example of how things work now.

At present, the Dutch Forensic Institute is accommodated on a business park in Rijswijk, in four buildings that are obsolete both technically and functionally. The Ministry will soon get a new building in Ypenburg (The Hague) that is totally in line with the requirements and specifications that we set for a building for that organization.

I hope that this explanation has not been too technical or too financial. Before I started working at the Justice Ministry, I was the director of budget matters at the Ministry of Finance. So I have a financial background, not a housing background I can assure you that financial knowledge is very important to enable me to operate as a critical customer of the Buildings Agency. The accommodation system is financially complex, and you easily spend too much before you know it. And that’s not something we Hollanders like doing.

Although the new system of Government Buildings was an improvement in many ways further improvements are possible. I will attempt to explain what, in our view, is still wrong with the system.

3. The lack of transparency in cost prices and surcharges.

I won’t beat about the bush: we are afraid that we are paying too much for our accommodation. You are no doubt thinking “There’s that financial background again”. But we find support for our view in a study by the Foundation for Economic Research of Amsterdam University, carried out in the context of the parliamentary inquiry into building fraud. This shows central government to be 14% more expensive than the market.

The interim evaluation in 2001 presents the same picture, a service that is much more expensive than the market on a number of products.

At the same time, there is no proper information available about the costs and quality of government accommodation. That makes it difficult to check the effectiveness of internal provision for the whole range of government accommodation.

The income from the major surcharges for regular day-to-day maintenance and vacancies exceed the costs. The rent is too high in parts. There is an increasing tension between the rent that has to be paid by the user and the switchover to the standard budget: the budgets are insufficient to cover current costs.

Within the so-called Accommodation Task Force, the Ministry of Justice is investigating how the Building Agency’s costs compare to market costs, in consultation with the Agency. The first successes have already been recorded: the 1% risk surcharge on new projects is to disappear, and a tariff differentiation with tariff reductions for reimbursing the Building Agency’s administrative costs for new projects is to be introduced. And with a big new pro-

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ject of nearby half a billion euro’s that is very promising.

4. Persistence of public-law interventions The new accommodation system is a copy of the private-law system. We act as if we are market players who have to reach agreement.

But at the same time, public-law interventions by the Ministry for Housing are being maintained and we have to observe a number of rules laid down unilaterally by the Minister for Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment. We have submitted a complaint on this issue to the government accommodation disputes board, because we think that the rules of play should not be changed in the course of the game.

These public-law interventions are also encountered in areas such as urban development, listed buildings, architecture and art. Their effect is to increase costs and reduce the efficiency of the operating process. The most obvious example is that premises that are listed buildings cannot be modified.

They do exist too, and to be very honest: they prevail.

1. The Ministry can keep an overview of its decentralized accommodation activities from a central point.

2. The benefit that accumulating knowledge in the various accommodation processes can provide: the Government Buildings Agency is a shared service ahead of its time.

3. The GBA’s financial account system creates opportunities for cost efficient decision making and the use of systems like total cost of ownership.

Quality of the accommodation process Let me take a case study to illustrate our experience of new building development programmes in cooperation with the Government Buildings Agency. It is the building of the administration department of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, which we are very busy with just now. This is the biggest non-residential building project in Europe at the moment.

A new building is being built on a plot of 32 metres by 162 metres

5. Too many roles combined in a single Government Buildings Agency A third disadvantage of the system is that the Government Buildings Agency combines a whole variety of roles within itself.

Consultant, architect, project manager, inspector (e.g. for urban development, listed buildings, architecture and art), and framework setter – it is often less than clear to the customer which Government Buildings Agency he is speaking to. And so it is questionable whether all these roles can in fact be combined in a single organization, as the different interests appear to compete with each other. I will come back to that point in a moment.

6. Forced sourcing Fourth, central government customers are required to go to the Government Buildings Agency. The absence of the market mechanism means that there is a lack of incentives to encourage the Agency to work more efficiently. That was also shown in the interim evaluation.

We say when you wake us in the middle of the night: no forced sourcing, but rather a Government Buildings Agency that is so good that the customers choose it themselves.

And now, after that list of drawbacks, here are a few advantages.

Figure 25: Wijnhaven district

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right in the centre of The Hague. It contains 53,185 square metres of gross floor area for the Justice Ministry, and 116,000 square metres of gross floor area for both ministries combined, with a total of 1750 workplaces for Justice.

It was clear from the start that it would have to be a linked building, with two 140-metre high towers and a large number of shared facilities.

It has to be a new building because the buildings used by the two ministries are obsolete both technically and economically. It would cost more to renovate these buildings than to build a new one, and still without achieving the desired level of functionality.

The Wijnhavenkwartier district The building of the new ministries forms part of the upgrading of the Wijnhavenkwartier district. The city council wants to make radical changes to this district in the centre of The Hague over the next 10 to 15 years. The environment has to become more attractive both for living and for working in. As well as the two new ministries and a residential tower block, there will be more homes, shops, a hotel, offices and catering establishments in a later phase.

Figure 26: Place in the city

Figure 27: Woolworth

Under the urban development plan drawn up by the city council in cooperation with the Government Buildings Agency and MAB, the project developers, five new tower buildings will be erected in the Wijnhavenkwartier district in the coming years. Each of these towers will have its “feet” on the ground and will have its own face at street level. The towers are spread across the planning area in such a way that they blend in well to their surroundings; they become lower towards the city.

Place in the city Complex project The ministries’ building project – familiarly abbreviated as “JuBi” – is a complex project. On the one hand, the city council’s urban development plan sets the basic conditions for the building, while on the other the ministries have requirements regarding time, money and quality. And the complexity is further reinforced by the fact that a whole range of other parties are involved in the project.

There is a great deal of interest in the new building within the city of The Hague. Not least because the building has to fit in with the

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historical city centre, social housing has to be demolished to make way for it, and the height of the towers is controversial.

The city laid down a number of requirements right from the start.

For instance: - the town hall had to remain prominent; - the link between the city centre and the riverside district had to be improved; and - there had to be a mixture of functions.

And the terminal, a recent office building next to the building plot, was also really in the way.

The Ministry of Justice, as the future tenant of the property, has set an accommodation budget, from which the rent for the new building has to be paid.

Agreements on time and quality have also been made; these are fixed agreements, as far as the Ministry is concerned. The schedules of requirements form the basis both for the fabric and for the finishings.

The Government Buildings Agency is the principal for the new development. Its aim is primarily to achieve functional, cost-conscious accommodation for the property’s two main tenants, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. For the Buildings Agency, it is also important to develop a building that can be leased out in the longer term too.

Other points for consideration are the urban development aspect and the quality of the architecture. The Government Buildings Agency plays an intermediary role in the relationship between the city council and the ministries.

Building plot Launching such an extensive project involves major uncertainties in the decision-making process. It is a task that demands the utmost efforts from an organization. And so the Justice Ministry set up its own project management at an early stage to work full time on the new development.

The project management’s remit is “to arrive at attractive accommodation for the staff of the Ministry’s core department within a realistic period (before 2008) and within the financial limits laid down, on the basis of a widely shared vision”.

A number of preconditions were laid down in advance, such as

windows that can be opened. In addition, the building must be future-proof and provide optimum flexibility, since developments may mean that the needs/requirements for workplaces in a few years’ time may not be the same as at present.

The Justice Ministry sets its sights high and wants to do all it can to create an attractive working environment. As the Ministry will be the only tenant of an important part the new premises for the next twenty years, the new development offers plenty of opportunity to fulfil wishes. But that is only possible with the close involvement of our direct partners, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Government Buildings Agency and the city council.

Launch of new building project: development of vision The new building process has been running for two years now and is still not at an end. If everything goes according to schedule, the building that is still standing on the site, the “Black Madonna”, will be demolished in 2004. And the construction of the ministry towers – “White Madonna” would not be a bad nickname for the Justice Ministry – can then begin the following year.

The Ministry set up an internal programme to develop a vision for the new accommodation at an early stage. The intention was to involve staff in the process and develop broad-based support.

At the stage when accommodation wishes and possibilities could still be discussed freely, a vision of the new accommodation independent of the constraints imposed by its direct environment was developed.

That vision is the result of the joint efforts of the project management team and the Ministry staff.

Staff provided input on their future working environment, and tabled their wishes and requirements. Recommendations were formulated on the themes of Identity and Public Access, Organizational Development and Information Provision, and Office and Services Concept, all linked together by an overarching vision.

You will have gathered that the Ministry of Justice attaches great importance to a good working environment and wants to play a major, pro-active role in the design and construction of its new main office. The Ministry expects customized provision from the Government Buildings Agency in that respect. We expect the

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Agency to enter into an active dialogue with the most important user of the new building, and give us early notice of the consequences of our wishes. Its professionalism must protect us against false expectations.

In September 2001, a group of 45 people set out on a trip to the future, 2007. They went there to behold the new building of the Justice Ministry. The employees were asked to look with a specific eye on required identity, equipment and functionality of the new building.

The travellers went on a specially designed compass with five quarters, namely; what’s possible in 2007, the opportunities, the ideological aspect, the predicting aspect and the daily activities.

Finally this journey to the future has led to a number of fifteen unique stories. It’s a travel report of collected findings of the reality, which will be used as a start to create the new building for the Ministry of Justice.

You’ll see an example of possibilities in 2007. The images show Presentation of vision Norman Foster

Presentation of vision Neutelings / Riedijk

the ministry of Justice as a meeting point. There were made two recommendations: - the new building will contain a number of functional meeting points - through the whole building there will be open, creative spaces and inspiring surroundings for specific projects.

Selection of architect The vision, together with the urban development plan, served as input for the selection of the architect.

The Government Buildings Agency and the Government Architect provided a list of architects, a committee on which the Ministry was represented selected nine architects, and seven of them (from the Netherlands and abroad) took part in the selection process and presented their visions early in October 2002.

During the selection process, the contrasting interests of the parties involved again played a major role. The dilemmas that we at the Ministry were faced with were: - Should we opt for a building that fits into the city, or for functional and affordable accommodation for the Ministry of Justice?

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- Should the building give the Ministry (or more generally, central government) a recognizable face, or should it rather fit seamlessly into the urban fabric?

- Do we want facilities for our staff such as a restaurant, a fitness studio and childcare? Or do we want to offer more for the city by including catering facilities in it? Or perhaps we could satisfy both target groups, for instance with a bookshop. Money that we set aside for the city is at the cost of investments in the building that could be in the interests of the staff in particular.

Kollhoff design for new development The German architect Hans Kollhoff was the final choice. A major argument for the decision was the way in which he has designed the transition between the Wijnhavenkwartier district and its surroundings. His plan is very much in line with the city’s vision for urban development and the basic conditions laid down by it.

That shows that the emphasis in the selection of the architect has been placed particularly on the way in which the design fits into the urban structure of The Hague. The building’s functionality – its interior – was lower down the agenda. That aspect is dealt with more fully in the design process.

The title of Kollhoff’s vision is “Chicago on the Turfmarkt”. His plan may be characterized as a disciplined play of towers on an urban plinth. The major principle of the plan is that the block integrates naturally into the urban fabric of The Hague. Kollhoff does not want to have isolated objects in the city; instead he is aiming to blend into the city.

Presentation of vision Peter Pran / NBBJ

The Ministry of Justice feels that Kollhoff’s vision is in line with the image that the Ministry wishes to project: a governmental style, but transparent too.

Quietness, connection and quality are the magic words behind the design of the German architect Kollhoff, for the new ministries of the Interior and Justice.

Because of the busy surroundings of the Central Station, Kollhoff made a conscious choice for a modest and quiet design.

The architect himself (Kollhoff), who is famous for his design of Piraeus residence in Amsterdam on the KNSM-island, was fully aware of the excitement, literally and figuratively, about the skyline of The Hague.

Design process Kollhoff delivered the draft design at the start of this year. It has already been submitted to the City Council, and the Urban Aesthetics Committee is considering it in detail.

At the end of March, Kollhoff presented his Provisional Design to the staff of the two ministries, in a program in which the stand-up comedians, with the name “Boom Chicago” played a major role.

The problem of conflicting interests was again a factor during the

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design process. For example, the real estate interest collided with the functional interest.

The Government Buildings Agency takes the view that it should still be possible to lease out the building in 20 years’ time – for example to another ministry – while the Justice Ministry wants a building that is tailored to its needs and wishes. What makes it even more difficult is that the Building Agency probably also wants space for itself; 10,000 square metres at the moment.

The Ministry of Justice would much prefer to make clear agreements with the Government Buildings Agency, for a building of that specific quality on that specific handover date at that specific price – at that fixed price. And that is not possible under the present system. All the risks have to be borne by the building’s first tenant, the Ministry. In fact, if the costs for a new development project are exceeded, the Government Buildings Agency actually receives an extra payment for administrative costs.

Final remarks

Another illustration of conflicting interests is the exterior versus the interior. The city council, and specifically its urban aesthetics committee, attaches importance to an exterior that will fit in with the city, while the Ministry’s priority is a functional office building that can be used flexibly. That contrast can act directly, but it can also have its effect in a roundabout way. Where concessions have to be made for aesthetic considerations – the use of natural stone, for instance – the ministries have to come up with the additional money. The Government Buildings Agency’s duty is to act as an intermediary, while at the same time keeping an eye on the interests of the future tenants, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

A long story, but my final conclusions are brief: - The days of open-ended agreements are over; the size and complexity of new development projects demand great professionalism from all parties. And that involves a heavy responsibility.

- The Government Buildings Agency’s customer – even if it is a ministry – is making increasingly high demands, not merely from the viewpoint of the huge investments involved but also because of its responsibility as an employer.

Conclusions

- It is desirable that the relationship between the customer and the Government Buildings Agency should be placed on a more businesslike footing.

To sum up: the ministries, the Building Agency and the city council worked closely together during the selection of the architect and the design process. An intensive process during which the parties had to make continuous reassessments on the basis of the constraints laid down in terms of quality, costs and time.

- We have to move towards sound market conditions: a customer-oriented attitude and realistic pricing, preferably competitive market pricing.

During that process, there was sort of friction between the Government Buildings Agency and the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry has submitted a complaint to the Government Accommodation Complaints Board. The Government Buildings Agency and the Ministry accuse each other of being unprofessional. The Agency feels that the Ministry is constantly coming up with additional requests, and that this is troublesome and creates uncertainty. The Agency argues that the Ministry should proceed on the basis of maximum flexibility and should only adopt a fixed position at the final deadline. For its part, the Ministry feels that it is difficult to gain any insight into the relationship between costs, quality and time, and that this makes adjustments necessary even at an advanced stage in the accommodation process.

In fact there is no single Government Buildings Agency as a genuine contract partner. The Government Buildings Agency wears a number of hats: as principal for the building contract, landlord, property manager, our representative etc. These roles have mutually conflicting interests. And that inevitably leads to a conflict of roles.

The environment within which the Government Buildings Agency operates is changing; the budget is getting tighter, so the ministries want (more) value for their money; the comparison with the market is becoming increasingly pointed. In short, the Government Buildings Agency will have to work more efficiently and more cheaply, or else it will eventually price itself out of the market.

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It will have been clear from the above that the Justice Ministry is a critical customer. But also, I hope, that we are very satisfied with the joint approach to the construction of our new main office.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the Government Buildings Agency and the Ministries of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and of Justice, The Hague will be an even more attractive city in future.

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3.2

Workshops

3.2.1

Workshop 1: “Knowledge, a window to new opportunities”

Introduction This workshop was given by Albart Petersen and Erik van den Eijnden from the Dutch Government Buildings Agency. Albart Petersen works as head for the multi-project management department at the Projects Division. Erik van den Eijnden works at the department of Policy and Strategy.

The goal with the workshop is to exchange ideas with the participants on the following questions. Do the participants have any experience with the introduction of knowledge-management in their organizations? For each organizational dimension, which measures are most useful for making the introduction of knowledge-management succesful? Which measures are missing?

Workshop Concepts and items such as knowledge management and knowledge-sharing and learning organizations have become firmly established in management practice. According to Senge, much of the interest in knowledge management arises from the difficulty that leaders at the top experience in determining how to begin imparting useful knowledge. He immediately cautions that many investments in knowledge management in recent years, especially investments in new information systems to record and disseminate knowledge, have yielded disappointing returns. So forewarned is forearmed.

What is knowledge management? Is knowledge management about managing knowledge, or is management responsible for knowledge. Some organizations avoid the term knowledge management because they believe it has negative connotations. Since the objective is to involve everybody in generating and imparting knowledge, terms such as mutual assistance and co-operation are emphasized over knowledge management.

Knowledge management should be a mindset and operating procedure supported throughout the organization rather than a steering method of the management or a new service of some internal division.

Definitions of knowledge management vary widely in the litera-

Figure 25: the operation processes in the knowledge value chain

ture. Some refer to managing the production factor, while others relate to promoting the organization’s learning ability. Weggeman presents knowledge as a crucial production factor in an organization, alongside labour, capital and land. In a clear model, the scholar charts the minimum of knowledge-related operations required for an organization to introduce knowledge management (see the figure below).

In the above model, the knowledge value chain is driven by at least one strategy to realize the organization’s objectives. It is thus far from arbitrary.

Regardless of the general perspective or vision, knowledge management consistently means managing the knowledge production factor. The yield is optimized by (1) organizing knowledgesharing processes, (2) promoting a culture of open co-operation and (3) providing the infrastructure and the instruments required to facilitate these processes and culture.

The Government Buildings Agency is interested in knowledge management, is not yet motivated by concern for the competition

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realizing an organization’s objective and for influencing the knowledge flow within an organization. The model serves diagnosis and involves proportionate consideration of all six aspects. While the absolute aspects of strategy and structure in an organization used to be the main focus, this model adds more subjective, intangible, irrational, intuitive and informal organizational aspects, such as staff, management style, systems and culture. The model reveals that rigid and more flexible aspects are equally important in bringing about an organization.

Based on the model, measures that are important or are considered factors in a knowledge-oriented organization are suggested (as examples) for each organizational dimension.

Strategy

Figure 25: the operation processes in the knowledge value chain

but aims to make operations efficient and effective. In government buildings, the ministries or ministerial departments are integrally responsible for their accommodations. Expertise in this field is necessary to draft a policy on accommodations and implement it properly.

Thanks to the knowledge within the Government Buildings Agency, the accommodations provided are fully compatible with the primary client process. Because of marketing interests and others, we need to remain aware of trends within and outside the Government Buildings Agency to optimise customer service. Knowledge is essential for adapting established products, developing new services or communicating with clients. In this respect, managing knowledge is not an isolated task but should be an integral part of operational management.

One useful model for inventories, research and structuring in terms of knowledge management is the model from Weggeman (see figure below) derived from McKinsey “7S-model�. The organizational dimensions strategy, structure, culture, systems, staff and management style covered in the model are essential for

1. Explicitly include knowledge mission and knowledge vision in the strategy or business plan (changing a corporate culture is a complex process and may be driven by a mission and vision).

2. Formulate and communicate internally the collective ambition (the combination of the mission throughout the organization and the organizational vision, which should give staff members an incentive to achieve the organizational objectives).

3. Involve the staff in rewriting the mission.

4. Make knowledge-sharing and customer knowledge a priority (chance of failure if knowledge management is introduced in many areas and on a massive scale. Set priorities and introduce in stages if possible.).

5. Draft an annual knowledge plan (include a vision about knowledge management in the corporate plan for strategic reasons; make a tactical record in an annual knowledge plan).

6. Management should recognize and impart the importance of knowledge (support from senior, upper and middle management should be noticeable in the organization).

7. Knowledge management project (to cultivate understanding and support and to increase involvement).

8. Use communication devices to support knowledge management (communicating about the subject is important to prevent aversion; communicate successes) 9. Focus on results by including them in corporate plans and linking them with other projects (monitor progression of the introduction of knowledge management).

10. Identify knowledge shortfall or surplus. (Which knowledge is required for the organization to achieve the short, medium and long-term objectives?)

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Organizational culture 1. New standards in connection with knowledge-sharing (knowledge-sharing is not considered a core responsibility. This means adjusting the standards. New standards need to become part of the culture.).

2. Management serves as a role model (senior and upper management should serve as a role model for the knowledgesharing standard to become generally accepted).

3. Motivation focused on knowledge management (the two most important tasks that staff should be encouraged to perform are (a) learning while doing their work and (b) providing feedback and sharing the knowledge obtained).

4. Staff members need to disclose their ambitions (by disclosing their ambitions, staff members will promote knowledge management culture, so that what they learn and the knowledge gathered will contribute to this).

5. Reward positive reuse of knowledge (regularly select a project or situation where knowledge was reused successfully, and reward proper conduct. In hierarchical – i.e. bureaucratic – organizations with many rules and procedures, poor conduct usually leads to sanctions).

6. Make knowledge-sharing an important subject by talking about it (since staff members determine their conduct according to what they see and hear, make knowledge-sharing an important subject and talk about it).

7. Use various HR instruments (actions that may indirectly influence culture include (1) transferring staff members across several departments, (2) recruiting and hiring different kinds of people, (3) basing evaluations and rewards on desired knowledge-sharing conduct, (4) supporting new ideas, (5) requiring participation in internal training programmes).

8. Use ICT (use information technology to share quick knowledge, devise solutions or alternatives and promote innovation).

9. Promote teamwork between function areas (managers should meet fifteen minutes every day to address issues to be resolved outside these meetings).

10. Total Quality Management (TQM should promote setting new standards, devising creative solutions and ongoing improvement).

11. Participation (successful introduction of knowledge management requires timely involvement of staff members in formulating the knowledge management vision).

12. Various actions and instruments (a rigorous internal move or

a different building, internal publicity campaigns, a slogan for culture change, a newsletter, work conferences, festive gatherings, training sessions).

Management style 1. Serve as a role model (knowledge-sharing is a different way of working. A new method requires changing or adapting the established procedure and is often not automatic but needs to be encouraged, with management serving as a role model).

2. Impart knowledge-management vision (management will need to have a vision, crystallize it in a strategy and set objectives and launch initiatives).

3. Provide feedback (staff members should receive constant feedback from management about their performance and their strengths and weaknesses with respect to knowledge sharing).

4. Responsible for information provision (managers should provide staff members with all the information they need, both asked and unasked).

5. Be accessible and visible (supervisors should be accessible and visible to staff members).

6. Listen (supervisors should try not to present opinions and views first).

7. Encourage knowledge sharing and learning (by expanding operations and adding new responsibilities that require learning new skills and competencies).

8. Communicate about collective ambition (management needs to minimize the number of staff interested in leaving the firm to retain the implicit knowledge within the organization).

9. Management by knowledge objectives (formulate knowledge objectives. For example: after a year, 60 percent of the staff should be included in the knowledge bank, and 80 percent of the projects should have been evaluated).

10. Other keywords are encourage, facilitate, provide coaching, open, flexible, improvise, trust, help, creativity, focus on human interaction.

Staff 1. Staff attitude is decisive for the success of knowledge management (in the course of their daily operations, all staff members should develop, save, share, search for, disseminate and use knowledge). The knowledge and learning contract may figure

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in this process.

2. Appoint a knowledge manager and project leader of the change team (appointing a knowledge manager is recommended.

His or her chief responsibility is to arrange the gradual emergence of a knowledge culture and a knowledge management infrastructure).

3. Encourage and support self-management (staff members need to master self-management through self-enrichment and development).

4. More improvising professionals. (Organizations that are hierarchical or bureaucratic contain many routine professionals known as R profs. An enterprising, adhocratic or knowledgesharing culture will require more improvising professionals known as I profs. The management will need to devise appropriate HR instruments.)

and work stations fairly quickly and with relatively little effort).

2. Build a Competence Information System (in addition to the standard staff records listing their years of service with the company, their rates of pay and pension data, a staff-related system should reflect data on education, educational commitments and competencies. The Competence Information System would be accessible to selected Personnel & Organization staff members.).

3. Set up product data bases (these data bases concern finance, projects, clients and housing maintenance and repair).

4. Introduce a Knowledge Information System. (Unlike the Competence Information System, the Knowledge Information System allows individual staff members to indicate the disciplines, products and fields of application with which they are familiar, the current standard of their knowledge and the like.

It is like a knowledge chart or an online Yellow Pages.)

Structure Human Resource Management System 1. Gradual introduction of a fuzzy structure in the organization (boundaries between departments and management boards fade as a result of co-operation on project teams or task forces; staff members on a team or group contribute and share knowledge).

2. Set up a knowledge centre (organizations with more than two or three hundred employees need a search system for tracing internally and externally applicable knowledge. A knowledge centre or library may be conducive to using, evaluating, selecting, disseminating and monitoring knowledge).

3. A professional research department or innovation centre (knowledge production precedes knowledge dissemination).

4. Include quality HRM and ICT departments in the organization (application of HRM instruments should help HRM focus on knowledge transfer; ICT serves to support staff members).

5. Centralizing an organization drives knowledge exchange (organizational structures that maintain a rigid separation between ‘thinking’ – centralized in the boards of management – and ‘doing’ – decentralized in executive boards – impede knowledge sharing.

Systems Information and Communications Technology System 1. Participate in a government Intranet (support from ICT technology can disseminate information and knowledge about housing

5. Draft competence profiles. (Managing knowledge transfer face to face requires that the organization have a clear impression of the staff and the knowledge available to them. This involves more than insight into a job description. The aim should be to obtain a competence profile recording experience, skills, attitude and talent.)

6. Use standard human resource instruments effectively.

(Recruitment and hiring, career development, training and education, evaluation and remuneration should be used professionally and effectively to cultivate attitudes, conduct and skills associated with introducing or maintaining knowledge management.)

7. Encourage and support self-management. (Staff at a learning or knowledge-sharing organization should be expected to pursue advancement and enrichment.)

8. Staff members should draft a knowledge or learning contract.

(In such a contract, staff members indicate which direct, indirect, professional, knowledge-sharing and social activities he or she wishes to undertake in a year.)

9. Introduce and support a job rotation, secondment and mobilization network (use human resource instruments to support rotation or knowledge flows).

10. Apply the senior-junior system. (If practical and financially feasible, this instrument is suitable for imparting implicit knowledge.)

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11. Introduce a policy on seniors and a policy on staff leaving the organization (the knowledge to be retained needs to be identified, and the corresponding knowledge carriers and selection of knowledge recipients become necessary).

General 12. Encourage and support face-to-face knowledge transfer.

(Steering the emergence of social networks will promote direct knowledge sharing. Indirect steering occurs through social events, such as lunch meetings, round table discussions, book presentations, congresses, symposia, openings, receptions and company visits.)

13. Introduce project evaluation. (A learning and knowledgesharing organization should respond to errors or shortcomings and solve them; cause and consequence should be clear. This will make the organization increasingly intelligent and innovative.)

14. Design a knowledge map and knowledge chart. (Locate the explicit – information – and implicit – experience, skills and attitude – knowledge exists within the organization. This insight should produce a knowledge map. Staff members should compile their own knowledge chart in the Knowledge Information System).

total amount of experience with knowledge man. Issues

systems

structure

staff

management style

culture

strategy

6

2

1

1

1

0

1

+

BCBC Canada

4

2

0

1

0

1

0

+/-

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

-

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

?

32

0

4

3

8

9

8

+

NTT Japan

2

1

0

0

0

1

0

+/-

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

-

7

0

1

1

1

2

2

?

20

8

4

0

8

0

0

+

MLIT Japan 4

1

1

0

2

0

0

+/-

4

4

0

0

0

0

0

-

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

?

15

4

2

2

0

0

7

+

NPB Sweden 5

2

1

1

0

0

1

+/6

4

1

0

0

0

1

-

7

4

1

1

0

0

1

?

29

4

1

3

7

7

7

+

GSA USA 16

5

2

1

3

4

1

+/9

5

1

0

0

1

2

-

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

?

20

2

2

0

7

3

6

+

Post Sweden 15

7

0

0

1

7

0

+/5

0

2

0

0

1

2

-

11

5

1

0

2

1

2

?

38

9

3

4

8

7

7

+

OGC UK 7

2

1

0

1

1

2

+/4

0

1

0

0

2

1

-

3

2

0

0

0

1

0

?

15

0

1

2

4

0

8

+

CfPB Netherlands 1

0

0

0

1

0

0

+/-

6

0

3

1

0

0

2

-

3

0

1

1

1

0

0

?

28

7

1

2

8

7

3

+

10

4

1

0

1

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

5

-

13

GBA Netherlands +/-

experience: + pos; - neg; ?

Implementation probably not possible; +/execution of an idea/solution is too short for results

3

1

1

0

0

1

0

?

Outcome workshop about Knowledge management, May 13, 2003

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1

1

Include quality HRM and ICT departments in the organization

Centralizing an organization drives knowledge exchange

1

1

+

A professional research department or innovation centre

?

1

-

Set up a knowledge centre

Gradual introduction of a fuzzy structure in the organization

Structure

+

BCBC Canada

+/-

NTT Japan

+/-

-

1

?

1

1

1

1

+

MLIT Japan 1

+/-

?

1

1

+

NPB Sweden 1

+/1

-

1

?

1

+

GSA USA 1

1

+/1

-

1

?

1

1

+

Post Sweden +/1

1

-

1

?

1

1

1

+

OGC UK 1

+/1

-

?

1

+

CfPB Netherlands +/-

1

1

1

-

1

?

1

+

1

1

-

GBA Netherlands +/-

experience: + pos; - neg; ?

Implementation probably not possible; +/execution of an idea/solution is too short for results

1

?

68

More improvising professionals.

Encourage and support self-management

1

1

1

1

+

Appoint a knowledge manager and project leader of the change team

?

1

-

Staff attitude is decisive for the success of knowledge management

Staff

+

BCBC Canada

+/-

NTT Japan

+/-

-

1

?

+

MLIT Japan +/-

?

1

1

+

NPB Sweden 1

+/-

1

?

1

1

1

+

GSA USA 1

+/-

?

+

Post Sweden +/-

?

1

1

1

1

+

OGC UK +/-

?

1

1

+

CfPB Netherlands +/-

1

-

1

?

1

1

+

GBA Netherlands +/-

experience: + pos; - neg; ?

Implementation probably not possible; +/execution of an idea/solution is too short for results

1

1

-

?

69

1

1

1

Be accessible and visible

Listen

Encourage knowledge sharing and learning

1

Other keywords*

1

-

1

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

1

1

-

?

+

-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

1

1

1

-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

1

-

1

1

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

1

* such as encourage, facilitate, provide coaching, open, flexible, improvise, trust, help, creativity, focus on human interaction

1

Management by knowledge objectives

Communicate about collective ambition

1

Responsible for information provision

1

1

+

Provide feedback

?

1

-

Impart knowledgemanagement vision

Serve as a role model

Management style

+

BCBC Canada

+/-

NTT Japan

+/-

MLIT Japan +/-

NPB Sweden +/-

GSA USA +/-

Post Sweden +/-

OGC UK +/-

?

1

1

1

1

+

CfPB Netherlands 1

+/-

1

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

GBA Netherlands 1

+/-

experience: + pos; - neg; ?

Implementation probably not possible; +/execution of an idea/solution is too short for results

1

-

?

70

Identify knowledge shortfall or surplus.

Focus on results by including them in corporate plans and linking them with other projects

Use communication devices to support knowledge management

Knowledge management project

Management should recognize and impart the importance of knowledge

Draft an annual knowledge plan

Make knowledge-sharing and customer knowledge a priority

Involve the staff in rewriting the mission.

Formulate and communicate internally the collective ambition

Explicitly include knowledge mission and knowledge vision in the strategy or business plan

Strategy

1

+

BCBC Canada

+/-

1

-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

NTT Japan

+/-

-

1

1

?

+

MLIT Japan +/-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

NPB Sweden 1

+/1

-

1

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

GSA USA 1

+/1

1

-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

Post Sweden +/1

1

-

1

1

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

OGC UK 1

1

+/1

-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

CfPB Netherlands +/1

1

-

?

1

1

1

+

GBA Netherlands 1

1

+/-

experience: + pos; - neg; ?

Implementation probably not possible; +/execution of an idea/solution is too short for results

1

1

1

1

1

-

?

71

1

Various actions and instruments

1

-

1

1

?

+

-

?

+

-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

1

1

1

1 1

-

* actions that may indirectly influence culture include: (1) transferring staff members across several departments; (2) recruiting and hiring different kinds of people; (3) basing evaluations and rewards on desired knowledge-sharing conduct; (4) supporting new ideas; (5) requiring participation in internal training programmes. ** use information technology to share quick knowledge, devise solutions or alternatives and promote innovation

1

Participation

Total Quality Management

1

1

Use ICT**

Promote teamwork between function areas

1

Use various HR instruments*

1

1

1

1

+

Make knowledge-sharing an important subject by talking about it

?

1

-

Reward positive reuse of knowledge

Staff members need to disclose their ambitions

Motivation focused on knowledge management

Management serves as a role model

New standards in connection with knowledge-sharing

Culture

+

BCBC Canada

+/-

NTT Japan

+/-

MLIT Japan +/-

NPB Sweden +/-

GSA USA +/-

?

1

1

1

+

Post Sweden 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+/1

-

1

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

OGC UK 1

+/1

1

-

1

?

+

CfPB Netherlands +/-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

GBA Netherlands 1

1

+/-

experience: + pos; - neg; ?

Implementation probably not possible; +/execution of an idea/solution is too short for results

1

1

-

1

?

72

1

1

-

?

1

1

1

1

+

Design a knowledge map and knowledge chart.

Introduce project evaluation.

Encourage and support face-to-face knowledge transfer.

General

Introduce a policy on seniors and a policy on staff leaving the organization

1

1

1

+

Apply the senior-junior system.

?

1

1

1

1

-

Introduce and support a job rotation, secondment and mobilization network

Staff members should draft a knowledge or learning contract.

Encourage and support selfmanagement.

Use standard human resource instruments effectively.

Draft competence profiles.

Human Resource Management System

Introduce a Knowledge Information System.

Set up product data bases

Build a Competence Information System

Participate in a government Intranet

Information and Communications Technology System

Systems

+

BCBC Canada

+/-

NTT Japan

+/-

MLIT Japan 1

+/1

1

1

1

-

?

1

1

1

1

+

NPB Sweden 1

1

+/1

1

1

1

-

1

1

1

1

?

1

1

1

1

+

GSA USA 1

1

1

1

1

+/1

1

1

1

1

-

?

1

1

+

Post Sweden 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+/-

1

1

1

1

1

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

OGC UK 1

1

+/-

1

1

?

+

CfPB Netherlands +/-

?

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

+

GBA Netherlands 1

1

1

1

+/-

experience: + pos; - neg; ?

Implementation probably not possible; +/execution of an idea/solution is too short for results

1

1

-

1

?

73

74

Tuesday

3.2.2 Workshop 2: “Sustainable development”

-

Introduction This workshop was held by Insa Demitriades and Karin Lehmann from the Deutsche Post in Bonn, Germany.

-

Workshop In 1992 (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro) the concept of “Sustainable Development“ became the global guideline to address the urgent problems of environmental protection and socio-economic development.

The guiding principle of sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development recognises the interdependence of environmental, social and economic systems and promotes equality and justice through people empowerment and a sense of global citizenship.

Context to Real Estate: Buildings and workplaces (and also the workers/employees doing their job) have diverse effects on the natural environment during their entire life cycles. It is often that decisions made on the „drawing board“ have long-term environmental consequences. To achieve environmental sustainability in buildings, workplaces and other related issues it is crucial to think about it in a comprehensive and strategic way.

Questions for the Workshop were: a) What is the significance of the idea of „Sustainability“ in your organisation? b) What are the most important issues facing the implementation the concept of sustainable development in your real estate organisation? c) What are the barriers? d) Which concrete measures towards „Sustainability“ have already been undertaken in your organisation?

The results of the Workshop Sustainable Development a) The significance of the idea of “Sustainability“ in the organisations: - The importance of sustainable development in the different organisations participating in the workshop has different levels of implementation.

-

The awareness and consciousness of measures for sustainable development has constantly increased in the last ten years in all organisations.

General guidelines concerning sustainable development are established and should support the decision-making in favour for a sustainable development.

Some of the organisations have created a special department for pushing and implementing the idea of sustainable development.

b) The barriers and benefits through implementing the idea of sustainability were: - Barriers: Projects considering the sustainable aspect requires often a higher investment than conventional projects.

- The lack of consciousness and knowledge within the management and staff makes it difficult to implement the idea. Education is required, but also expensive.

- Taking into account to many details or trying to solve all the problems at the same time often leads to nothing. (Think big) - Benefits: The corporate value due to a higher corporate social responsibility could be increased.

- The life-cycle-costs of a building could be reduced by sustainable materials, architectural concepts and services.... c) Which concrete measures towards “Sustainability“ have already been undertaken in your organisation?

Pilot- projects has been started to prove the feasibility of sustainability in the real estate sector. Further more we should be conscious of the monumental heritage and learn from the past. (material, space, architecture) Financial appraisals nowadays include also the aspect of sustainability.

Some organisations try to create a so called sustainability index with different parameters to evaluate projects and activities concerning real estate.

In some countries (ex. Japan) a special purchase law guarantees a high quality and Sustainability of product and services delivered by governmental organisations.

Intranet and databases can support the information flow within the organisation about environmental aspects of real estate activities.

75

Tuesday

3.2.3

Workshop 3: “Sustainable vitality in office spaces”

Introduction This workshop was held by Wim Pullen who works at the Centre for People and Buildings in Delft, The Netherlands.

The goal with this workshop was to discuss the following questions: - What do we perceive as intergenerational trade offs of present office policies?

- Do we need a mind shift?

- If so, in what direction, what are the elements of the shift?

- What can we do tomorrow?

Workshop The discussion started off with the question “what will change the future and what can we do?”. Some answers and comments on this question were: -

-

-

-

Combining economy and construction.

Clarify what you want in a vision.

See the importance of flexibility.

In order to get a good office space you have to use a holistic design, not only the providing of the building but also of the furniture and the rest of the interior.

Cost reduction by development and use of standards.

It is important to have spatial variety and adaptability. You have to be able to adapt spaces to developments and adjustments over time. You also have to talk about human adaptability, not only the buildings.

Productivity should be one of the most important things. For instance, investments in the indoor climate of offices pay back very fast since it improves the productivity inside the office as well as the degree of absence due to sickness.

Will there be a problem with the increasing degree of elderly in the population? For instance, will a 68 year old fit in a yuppie office?

3.2.4

Workshop 4: “More interaction between TWN and W4: a win-win situation?!”

Introduction In this workshop it was discussed if the TWN and the W4 should have more interaction. Christiaan van der Heijden (W4) and Louk Heinders (TWN) led the discussions on this topic. Afterwards they made some statements on this topic. These statements were used later to stir up the discussions in the lower house debate.

Workshop The goal of the workshop was to talk about: 1. Recent experiences of the members present 2. Defining the recent goals of the TWN and W4 3. Perceptions 4. How the organisations can support each other 5. Under what conditions could we implement new ideas The workshop didn’t exactly follow this order. But an effort is made to keep this structure in this report.

1) Experiences - L. Heijnders, Dutch GBA: “This is my fifth TWN, my first was in Southern Africa, and my experience is that the discussions each year are moving further away from operational details towards strategical issues. So the member- interests are changing every year.

- Deutsche Post, Klaus Ansmann: It’s a pity that every year less Telecom companies participate in the TWN network. Because these companies can teach us to act on a strong changing environment.

- W4-member: For young people, who are sometimes are already in the middle management, the W4 is an ideal opportunity to learn from each other and from the different cultures throughout the world about operational subjects. During the year nevertheless the mechanism of learning partnerships didn’t work that well.

- W4 member: Are there issues/ ideas which are developed at a TWN meeting that are really implemented in the business process? Answer David Bib: Absolutely, I’m content with what I

76

Tuesday

brought home from the passed TWN meetings and its influence on the way of working.

2) Goals - Goal 1: Focus on today. There should be more regularly interaction with the W4. This is important because of the chances the world is going through nowadays. This has its effect on both networks. So the TWN and W4 should in the future be arranged/ organized in the same time and geographical place like this year in the Netherlands and Germany. The learning partnerships should be intensivated and better supported by members of the TWN. If they have the time.

- Goal 2: TWN> Learn from new ideas. If this is one of the goals of the TWN, then why not put more discussions and workshops in the programs and less looking at old buildings? Shouldn’t a shift towards more interaction be a goal?

- Intentionally the first meetings of the TWN were crowded with all types of associates within an organization. Later on this shifted toward associates who made decisions on strategical level. It wasn’t the intention of the TWN to split younger talents from the senior associates with there strategical knowledge.

3) Perceptions - TWN is developed by leaders with as goal to give each other a broader perception of how in other countries things are arranged on a higher level of management (what strategic way). The W4 nevertheless is basically organized to prepare some talented young managers on becoming the future leaders. But to become a manager on strategic level you have to know everything about operational issues (operational excellence).

4) Improvement and supporting each other - Junior employees often make the agenda’s. They often place a lot of operational issues (daily problems) on the agenda. This is not strategic and broad enough. The guidance committee has to control the agenda to make sure that topics are elevated on a higher (non operational) level so it becomes strategically.

- W4: More members are welcome for both TWN as well as W4. But how do we approach them? And whom do we permit?

Companies with certain restrictions are searched for, intentionally also within the private sector.

- It has to be made clear which of the participating countries of the TWN support the learning partnerships and wants to mentor these partnerships. Both parties would still have different objectives and they don’t have to “marry”. (TWN business meeting?) Then there’s still the problem that both the TWN and the W4 consists of different participating countries.

- There were already learning partnership meetings through Internet and digital conferences. Some of them were successful and some of them had no gusto. Is it possible to make these digital meetings more effectively? Some people do really meet each other during the year, if their bosses allow them.

- Some TWN- members suggested that exchanges of selected talented W4 members between different organizations should be made possible. When the space and willingness allows it, it should be possible to accompany some TWN members for several weeks and learn of how to run a public real estate organization and the strategy. Some W4 members already done exchanges between their companies but not at a strategic level.

TWN; “If a person spends several weeks within another organization he or she can interpret the problems of that organization and translate the solutions (to those problems) to their own organization. Some TWN members said they would make time in their busy schedule to accompany W4 members within those exchange projects.

- It’s logistically and geographically impossible to organize both conferences in the same place. That would be too much to ask of that year’s host. But it is possible to send some W4 members to TWN conferences to contribute through presentations of workshops and vice versa.

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Tuesday

3.2.5

Conclusions of the workshops 1 and 3

3.3

Discussion and conclusion about the link between W4 and TWN

3.3.1

A lower house debate, led by Hans Beunderman

Workshop1 Knowledge, a window to new opportunities Why do we do a workshop on this topic, we already do knowledge management!!

We will give an overview per organisation about who does and who doesn’t do knowledge management in different ways.

Workshop 2 sustainable development in the context to real estate It is important that people are aware of sustainability; it cannot only be done by one person in an organisation.

- Corporate value due to corporate responsibility - Life cycle cost - Barriers\opportunities - Cost too high (or method of costing is wrong) - Consciousness - Knowledge/understanding (think big!!!)

- Measures: - Financial appraisal - Pilot projects have been started - Learn from the past (old buildings, architecture) - Purchasing law for government - Sustainable index - Information is needed

Introduction Hans Beunderman has worked for the Dutch Government Buildings Agency for many years, but now work as Professor at The Faculty of Architecture at Delft University of Technology and provides research and educates students for five specializations: Architecture Design, Building Technology, Urbanism, Real Estate & Housing.

Debate The participants had to choose between two statements: ‘Without TWN, there is no W4’ ‘Without W4, there is no TWN in the future’ The participants had a hard time choosing between the two statements, so they concluded that both are true, any way of enriching and exchanging information is good!

The subject of empowerment is very important. The members of TWN usually have higher positions, in which they can achieve more.

Workshop 3 Sustainable vitality in office spaces - You have to have a vision, a holistic design.

The next statement was: ‘At this moment, the agenda of W4 contains no strategic issues’

- How do we communicate this vision to our clients?

- We see changing demographic figures: In Europe we get older, in the USA the population gets younger!

W4:

If that is true, we didn’t send the right people!

W4:

We have an opinion, but no power to do something with it. But we have a lot of views; we certainly have an eye for strategic details, but we could still learn a lot from TWN-members! The W4 must keep on making an effort to get to the level of the TWN. Strategy requires operational excellence.

TWN:

The other way around is also true: “TWN may be too strategic!”

- The employee of the future has a lot to do with telecommunication etc.

- South Africa: We have to go back to existing buildings, we cannot continue building!

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Tuesday

W4 is also thinking in a strategic way. The new generation has a different background.

We are not here to stress on the differences between TWN and W4!

‘TWN and W4 is meant for all organisations who are interested in strategic CRE-issues (court real estate)’ Participant: This is not a closed club, but the discussion is not how many people may come, but it’s a discussion how many delegates you send!

‘There is not enough W4-time. W4 should be regular part of H(T)M (human talent management)’.

TWN: To encourage the contacts between TWN and W4, there should be some kind of a linkage between a senior and a member of the W4. Some sort of exchange project.

Participant: TWN should expand with more lands, not with more organisations from the same land. The organisation has to be government-related.

TWN:

Participant: I can live with a hybrid historical situation, and we are curious to see how other lands deal with our problems.

That may cost too much time, W4 is not in ones working tasks. But if people with the same background only talk about the daily operational work, they will not come further in the discussion. The conference is not only an exchange of daily work, we have an interesting program, with interesting key-note speakers.

Participant: TWN can learn a lot of the next generation. Therefore the learning partnerships present their ideas at the TWN meeting.

Participant: Communication is important, but we do that already everyday with colleagues.

Participant: Of course, not only at a conference.

‘Effective exchange of knowledge asks for exchange programs of W4 members’ Participant: This is already happening!

- Canada and the GSA - W4 members from the Netherlands with the W4 members from Canada This should be extended. The exchange projects should be more active. It should take place not only with your colleagues, but also international.

W4:

That is only possible if you have time. If you are a TWN member, you mostly don’t have the time to do that. If somebody is coming to visit another country, TWN should invest a lot of time. Otherwise the day would be filled with explanation of the day-to-day (operational non-strategic) work.

Participant: But the German post is a profit organisation! Should they leave the room now?

Participant: The number of members were intentionally chosen for logistical reasons, and we stick to the size of one bus, but in that bus there should be as many different people and countries as possible. We keep focused on other countries. Also for their federal governments or regional governments.

79

4.

Wednesday

4.

WEDNESDAY: QUALITY IN THE FUTURE

4.1

Keynotes

4.1.1

Welcome by the Queen’s Commissioner in the province of Limburg, by B.J. Van Voorst tot Voorst

Introduction Berend Jan van Voorst tot Voorst is the Queen’s Commissioner of the province Limburg. A Queen’s Commissioner is chairman of the Provincial States and the Provincial Executive. Queen’s Commissioners are chosen from big political parties but are suspected to do their jobs independently. The Queen’s Commissioner is not chosen by the people but selected by the Crown and government. He has a six-year term of office and can only be relieved from office by the Queen. He’s a representative of his country and province.

Speech Welcome ladies and gentleman from the TWN, I want to welcome you to this conference hall where in 1992 the famous treaty of Maastricht has been signed. By this Treaty, the High Contracting Parties established among themselves a European Union, called “the Union”. This Treaty marked a new stage in the process of creating an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen. Meetings of the Provincial States normally occupy this Conference Hall, but the Treaty put this building and Maastricht on the international map.

The topic of your conference is “quality”. Quality has long been a concern. Even the idea’s of Leonardo Da Vinci, with his far going perfectionism, about quality are still relevant for the quality of life today. The quality of the build environment helps us to give Maastricht his own identity. This identity and quality of the build environment is next to the great geographical position in Europe an important criteria for business to settle in Maastricht. But there’s only a scarce amount of space where we want to build. So from this problem an environment plan originated to sustain the sustainability and the environmental quality. In this plan the stock of buildings will be measured (quality, diversity and sustainability) and restrictions will be placed on new developments. Also new opportunities are written down. At the centre of this plan is the

“Green Hart” of Limburg. It should stay green for leisure and tourism and building activities are being restricted.

There’s also another way this local government can bring quality to the build environment. The so-called three in thirty project (2003- 2030). In this project several independent specialists (scientist, urban planner, architects, landscape architects) have to design in groups three urban plans of Roermond and Venlo. Why? Because then local independent specialists have to share their knowledge on the specific quality of Limburg. A problem with the environmental plan and the three thirty project is that the build environment is increasingly crossing the borders of Germany and Belgium. Both countries are very popular to live with respect to the taxes. A growing amount of Dutch developers are building there. They have to comply with Dutch legislation (regulations) and legislation abroad. Therefore regulations should be harmonized in Europe.

80

Wednesday

4.1.2

Globalisation paradoxes for public real estate management, by Kees Zoeteman

Introduction Kees Zoeteman is a Professor in Globalisation and Sustainable Development (Faculty for Economic Sciences) at Tilburg University since 2000. From 2001 he also acts as Chairman of Globus, Institute for Globalisation and Sustainable Development at Tilburg University. His present work focuses on the role of the National State and on ways to measure sustainability of organisations and communities in order to identify steps that can help improve sustainable development.

In this presentation Kees Zoeteman gives his vision on globalisation in relation to public real estate management. He will discuss in this presentation in what direction the state services should develop, because of the changing world around them.

Presentation Globalisation has increased the past centuries in waves. It started in the colonial era with the voyages of discovery by Columbus and others. Recently, a strong wave of globalisation was sweeping over the globe in the telecommunication sector and in the capital markets. The world system becomes more interconnected but globalisation leads to greater fragility as well. Local threats become global threats.

The effect of globalisation has weakened the position of the Nation State. National borders and sovereignty are losing their traditional meaning and international institutions are taking over regulatory roles of the State. At the same time the world is characterised by larger business agglomerations, increased interconnectedness of events and growing mobility of actors. Businesses are becoming footloose and people migrate more easily from problem areas to countries like those in North-west Europe, which they consider as islands of opportunity.

Moreover the global media can magnify small local events to global proportions. The management of interconnectedness therefore has become a key parameter for leaders in private business as well as in the public sector.

For Public Real Estate Management these trends of globalisation and interconnectedness are creating special dilemmas. As the role of the State is changing the function of governmental offices may change more rapidly than in the past. Civil servants will also

Figure 27: Disruption management

become more office independent. Public involvement in decisionmaking will be more direct, transparent and interactive. The Public Real Estate will have to be more open to the public, while at the same time the need to protect the working space against intruders and disruptions increases (see figure a.x).

The paradox is that public buildings will need to be more open and at the same time have to be made less vulnerable to distortions in the future globalised society.

Concluding, globalisation will introduce unpredictable risks for clients, staff, the information system and possibly the financial conditions to operate/ function. The protection by the State will decrease, while the power of the individual will increase. Selfreliance and quick response will be essential. The strategy to cope with these challenges can be one of constructing a fortification or a pavilion. Technological innovation is needed to fortify your pavilion or to pavilionize your fort.

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Wednesday

4.1.3

Development of Liège, by Albert Dupagne

Introduction The Centre for Architectural Design Studies (Laboratoire d’Études Méthodologiques Architecturales LEMA-ULg) is a research department associated with the School of Architecture at the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of Liège (ULg) in Belgium. Its activities are mainly oriented towards computeraided methods for architectural and urban design, and especially sustainable design. Since 1984, when it took over the Building Physics Laboratory (LPB) of the University of Liège, the LEMA has been involved in a number of EC and national research projects and networks. Generally speaking, the LEMA tends to foster methodological approaches to design and urban decision-making issues, through the reasoned use of visual languages, groupware techniques, spatial analysis tools or even fieldwork methodologies like the mental maps.

Professor Albert Dupagne is active on the LEMA-ULg and is coordinator of the SUIT project. SUIT is short for Sustainable development of Urban historical areas through an active Integration within Towns. The project aims at establishing a flexible and consistent Environmental Assessment (EA) methodology to assist with the active conservation of historical areas and to integrate cultural heritage into the urban setting. This methodology will be designed to help municipalities and local authorities in assessing the suitability of new urban developments, which will promote sustainable exploitation of urban and architectural cultural heritage. The methodology will also help to match existing historical areas with current socio-economic requirements, through an active integration of this heritage within new development projects.

Presentation The SUIT project is developed from three main hypotheses. At first, European directives on Environmental Assessment must be applicable. Access to (active instead of passive) information and public participation is needed. Second, the definition of urban built heritage must be enlarged. New urban elements, such as street patterns, urban silhouette and public open spaces need to be considered. At third, active conservation strategies must be applicable. A better balance must be achieved between conflicting values distributed among various stakeholders. Local authorities, citizens and experts need to be involved in actual participative procedures.

The “actor value system” A generic EA methodology is devoted to aid local authorities in applying active conservation approaches to build their cultural heritage.

Strategic Environmental assessment procedures are complex and require many human transactions. Therefore computer software cannot be seen as solutions incautiously applicable to present urban environmental developments. EA tools should better be seen as new and efficient supports enabling urban experts to produce innovative methodologies they have never expected to be possible.

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Wednesday

4.2

Workshops

4.2.1

Workshop 1: “Make the future work today”

Introduction This workshop was held by Astrid van Meeteren, Erik van den Eijnden and Kristina Lundmark from the department of Policy and Strategy at the Dutch Government Buildings Agency.

The goal with this workshop was to help the participants to foresee the future and give the management tools for strategic decision making of today that is valuable for tomorrow.

Workshop The workshop began by a short introduction of the workshop followed by a presentation of headlines from a fictive newspaper from the year of 2015. This newspaper was made in order to try to change the participants mind set to the future and make them realize what the consequences could be if they do not think in a long term perspective when making decisions today, especially on issues concerning (the position of) the organization.

The participants were asked to define issues of great importance for the future and explain why those were chosen. The issues were written on three posters, each with a different title, in order to give the participants an overview of the result. The participants were also invited to think of what they personally would like to be remembered for in the future. Concluding, the participants were also asked to come up with ideas for the TWN agenda of 2004.

This is what the posters looked like after the session:

The Urban Environment: -

Protect cities/buildings from rising sea level (The Netherlands)

-

Security in urban areas Fortification (The U.S.) ≠ Multifunctional buildings

-

Better technology for disposal of used material (Japan)

-

Life cost tools for building material (Japan)

The Building: -

Support mission, enhance productivity of the government

-

Direct interface with public

-

New and better materials

-

More intensive use of buildings

-

Telecommunication

-

More people will work in their homes > Office buildings transferred into residential buildings

-

Offices without individual workplaces / flexible workplaces

-

Security > Fortified offices (The U.S.)

-

Meeting places

-

Improvement of technology

The Workplace: -

Open

-

Less privacy

-

Improvement of technology

-

Integrated at home

-

Flexible

-

Paperless

-

Cordless

-

Organization: o o o o o

Network Flexible Cooperation No borders Transnational

Suggestions for the TWN-agenda 2004: -

Security

-

Technology

-

Interconnection between different issues

-

Increased demand of clients/consumers

-

PPP (Public Private Partnership) between public sector and constructors

-

Aging population

-

Procurement of building standards

-

Managing the workforce

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4.2.2

Workshop 2: “A spectrum of Real Estate Strategies”,

by Pity van der Schaaf

Introduction Pity van der Schaaf is currently a part-time Assistant Professor in Real Estate Management at Delft University of Technology. As part of this function, she co-ordinates courses on corporate real estate management for Delft University of Technology and the Centre for Investment and Real Estate in Amsterdam. She also works as a process manager at Estate Process Management & Consultancy in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. Pity van der Schaaf recently promoted on the subject of Public Real Estate Management.

Workshop In a dynamic world, the strategies of organizations change ever faster. Real estate is however by nature a long lasting static product, which implies that long-term strategies are a necessity.

However, the future is uncertain which makes defining a strategy very difficult. At the same time a corporate or public real estate organization needs to prove its added value to the organization.

What is the added value of corporate / public real estate? Do different stakeholders have a different perspective on added value and how will this change in the next decade? If interests differ, how do you balance those differences and achieve added value?

The answer to these questions can be found in defining a robust real estate strategy: one that is tuned to the needs of the different stakeholders and offers flexibility when needed.

In this workshop methods to define real estate strategies in an uncertain environment were discussed: how do organizations deal with uncertainty, what methods can be used? Further, a spectrum of possible real estate strategies and their consequences were discussed: what real estate strategies have been followed by various organizations? These best (and worst?!) practices will be added to the results of empirical research.

By presenting a fictitious case of locating a tax-office in Delft, Pity wants to make clear how real estate strategies can diver in a short-term or a long-term perspective. In other words: “Do short term conditions prevail in location-decisions and/or would you make another choice taking into account a long-term perspective?

The participants of the workshop noticed that location is not the only factor in locating the tax-office. The presence or absence of

subsidies, aspects of the labour market, rent and condition of the building are important factors as well. After specification of three potential locations, everybody agrees with a suburban location, next to the highway, nearby the university. Now the question arises whether people should adapt their real estate strategy taking into account a long-term perspective. Most of the participants persevere in there decision.

Pity mentioned her dissertation “Public Real Estate Management, Challenges for Governments” in which she concludes that the actual situation is most important in real estate strategy. In addition, Pity notes that cultural background and development are important determining factors. This dynamic context should more be taken into account, in order to define an appropriate real estate strategy, and therefore with a long-term perspective.

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4.3

Site visits

4.3.1

Boot trip on the river Maas: “History and building environment of the Maas Region”,

by Dirk de Vries

Introduction During the boot trip from Maastricht to Liège in Belgium, Dirk de Vries told us about the river Meuse (Maas) and it’s contribution to the building environment.

4.3.2

Place Saint-Lambert, The Law court Extensions,

by M. Bister

Introduction After the city walk around Place St. Lambert in Liège, Mr. Bister, who works for the Belgium Building Agency, told us about the history of Place Saint-Lambert. A few days after the conference he send us his complete presentation. The following presentation is a summary of the original presentation.

Presentation

Dirk de Vries is working at the Netherlands Department for Conservation, a national organisation in Zeist (near Utrecht). He also teaches art historians and other students at the University of Leiden in building history. Dirk de Vries is the national coordinator for building historical research, editor of the magazine Bulletin KNOB and vice-president of the European organisation Arbeitskreis für Hausforschung.

Presentation Dirk talked about the twofold function of the river Meuse in relation to building material. First he mentioned the transport function of river Meuse. In former days huge amounts of oak wood were transported from Belgium and France to the Netherlands in order to apply it for the construction of roofs and floors. Mostly, the wood was already prefabricated so each piece of wood was marked with a number. These numbers tell us that prefabrication and transportation of oak wood already took place in early medieval ages. Nowadays, (soft)wood is imported from Scandinavia.

Besides the transport function, the River Meuse is a supplier of building material, for example gravel, sand and Marble. This limestone is applied as brick in a lot of ancient buildings, churches for example, and is used as raw material for cement as well. The Meuse Region became the main supplier of cement, which leads to economic growth. However, nature pays debt and economic development prevailed.

Historical background Streams and rivers have always attracted people. Long ago the MEUSE in Liége followed several different beds. One of its tributaries, the LEGIA, a winding stream that rose at ANS, formed a delta as it joined the MEUSE. The first inhabitants profited from the sediment cone formed by the LEGIA. This cone, which stood at least 7 metres higher than the surrounding delta, allowed the inhabitants to escape from floods and make the best possible use of the river. It is this advantage undoubtedly that explains why the

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future Place Saint-Lambert has known human occupation for so long and became the cradle of the future Town of LIÈGE. The destiny of LIEGE was sealed on the day, LAMBERT, Bishop of TONGEREN, was murdered in the town in 705. The scene of his murder quickly became a favourite destination for pilgrims. Bishop NOTGER, appointed in 972, started work on building a cathedral, erected walls around the town, and built the first Episcopal palace. Various fires and the sacking of the palace on several occasions, led to the rebuilding of the palace in the 16th Century.

In 1734, the southern side, facing the Saint-Lambert Cathedral was destroyed by fire. Following the French revolution, the palace was first converted into a prison, then into a hospital, and finally into a depository for archives. In 1845, the Belgian State assumed responsibility for the restoration of the building, so that it could be given the functions that it retains to this day, namely a home for the Provincial Administration or “Provincial Palace” and the Law Courts of the Liège judicial district. In 1849, Architect JeanCharles DELSAUX built a new wing to house the services of the Provincial Government. This new building was built in a revival gothic style virtually identical to that of the original Palace and forms a seamless whole with the old building. Currently revealed by all the demolition and reconstruction work, the Palace can now be appreciated in all its extent and variety. It continues to serve as the home of the Provincial Authorities and the Law Courts.

Saint-Lambert Square From the 11th to 19th century, there was no Saint-Lambert square in any real sense, as it was occupied by a series of cathedrals, which were successively destroyed and rebuilt opposite the Palace of the Prince Bishops. The last Cathedral was demolished by the town’s residents during their revolution in 1794. The site was then cleared in 1821 to permit the laying out of the place Saint-Lambert in 1827. During the 20th century, drivers passing through LIEGE were obliged to cross the square, which eventually led to the proposal of projects in the sixties and seventies aimed at transforming the square into a major crossroads with both underground and surface levels.

Major works on Saint-Lambert Square since 1964 The first objectives for a new layout for Saint-Lambert Square were defined in 1964. The Ministry of Communications, acting

with the consent of the Town of LIEGE, decided to build a huge underground bus station for all the bus services serving central LIEGE. A two level car park was to be built under the bus station.

At the same time, the Administration of Roads of the Ministry of Public Works built the “Cadran-Sauvenière” link, and the SNCB (Belgian National Railways) continued with the modernization of “Palace” Station. The Buildings Agency, at that time an agency of the Ministry of Public Works, proposed the construction of two buildings there: the Provincial Government Extension, and the Law Courts Extension.

1975 saw the birth of a project to demolish the entire district so that motorway interchanges could be built. The spirited resistance put up by the local residents to the proposed demolitions led inevitably to the establishment of associations of persons opposed to various construction and engineering works. In March 1977, the authorities approved the master plan developed by. The master plan encouraged the Building Agency to present pre-projects for the two “Law and Province” buildings. The first stage of these works, was awarded to bidders in November 1975.

Early 1980: 3 major changes took place: 1. The Ministry of Public Works decided to acquire the isolated SARMA block (SARMA = a former retail chain) using Buildings Agency funds.

2. In January 1980, at a press conference held in the municipal offices of LIEGE, the Minister of Public Works announced that the St-Lambert Square Law Courts Extension project was being abandoned, and that all judicial services would be transferred to XX Août Square, on the University campus.

3. The Minister of Communications questioned the proposals of the master plan, particularly the exit tunnel for the buses under “Le Cadran”, and ordered new design studies for Cadran at his own expense.

By the end of 1980, the situation had changed as follows: a. The exit tunnel for the buses would return to the rue de Bruxelles. b. The Law Courts Extension had disappeared. c. The southern route of the rue de Bruxelles was modified and a new “railroad” would cross the “SARMA” site: this would be the “metro”, an early avatar of the TAU (Automatic Urban Transport) system.

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December1980: a. Award by the Société des Transports Intercommunaux Liégeois (local public transport company) of the contracts for the Cadran-St-Lambert link. b. Award of contracts, start and notification by the Société des Transports Intercommunaux Liégeois of the rough works for the 2nd phase.

December 1981: Award and start of the underground works for the “Province Annex” by the Buildings Agency December 1982: a permit for the construction of the “Province Annex” was issued. a. The underground works for the “Province Annex” were continued. b. The underground station was called into question by the operational services of the Société des Transports Intercommunaux Liégeois and by the National Local Tramway Company (SNCFV). c. This about face led to: d. The halting of all the works, which resulted in the site becoming internationally known as the “Hole of Saint-Lambert Square ”. e. A rash of alternative projects Intervention by Claude Strebelle and his consultancy, Atelier Sart-Tilman In May 1985: the Walloon Regional authority signed an agreement with Atelier Sart-Tilman, an architectural consultancy, which had been the author of the project for the construction of the University of LIEGE on the Sart-Tilman site. The town-planning document adopted in 1985 by LIEGE Municipal Council then defined the main principles for the laying out of Saint-Lambert Square. It articulated three main objectives: a. Rebuild three relatively independent squares. b. Keep car and road traffic on the surface, while “channelling” them in order to secure peaceful coexistence with other urban activities, and in particular with pedestrian traffic. c. Target the coexistence of functions – in this way the buildings of the Justice Ministry would return to Saint-Lambert Square and Boulevard de la Sauvenière – and reestablish links with the neighbourhoods close-by, such as Le Pierreuse, SainteCatherine, etc.

This plan also sought to “humanize the urban hypercentre”.

The Town of LIEGE adopted the new master plan, and with the object of monitoring the progress of the project established a politically constituted supervisory committee. The Minister of Public Works then suspended the award of the contract for the Provincial Government Extension. In March 1986, the remarks of the Buildings Agency concerning matters of a technical nature, urban development and planning and finance were passed on to the Ministry of Public Works. In particular, the master plan did not take account of the constraints associated with the existing structures, the safety of the Prince Bishops’ Palace, and the financial charges incurred by the Agency by reason of 6 years of delays.

New directions in 1987: a. Under a new design contract Ministry of Public Works ordered design drawings for the Law Court Extensions from the “B.C.D.” group and various technical consultancies. b. Claude STREBELLE started making a feasibility study c. The Justice Ministry drew up a programme that updated its requirements and confirmed its intention to give priority to two buildings In September 1987, the Minister of Public Works articulated his instructions as follows: a. Priority for the two Justice Ministry buildings. b. Construction of the modified bus tunnel by the Administration of Roads. c. Construction of a ground level bus station by the Ministry of Communications. d. Confirmed (Ministerial) Decree for the Provincial Offices Extension works.

In September 1989 the functions of the Ministry of Public Works and Communications were devolved to the “regional” governments (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels Capital District). This development had serious consequences: a. The decisions of the Minster of Public Works concerning the assumption of responsibility for the various structures to be built (tunnel, gallery, and road links) and those on the transfer of existing structures fell under a cloud of uncertainty. b. The joint performance of the works by the devolved Administration of Roads and the Buildings Agency, which continued to exist as a Federal agency, became difficult under the new constitutional structure. c. Questions arose about the future ownership of the TIVOLI site.

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d. The investments already authorized by the Buildings Agency had to be protected.

A new location study was submitted.

Parties involved a. In 1989, those involved in the Saint-Lambert Square project were all public bodies: b. The Walloon Region, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Communications and Transport and its various transport companies, including the Société des Transports Vicinaux (country trams and buses), which became the Société Régionale Wallonne des Transports (S.R.W.T.) and its operating company Transports en Communs (T.E.C.). c. The Buildings Agency, d. The Town of LIEGE These bodies owned the sites and the works already completed underground, but which no longer conformed to the definition, nor program, nor location set out in the Master Plan. The establishment of a Guiding Committee and a Technical Coordinating Committee chaired by the Town of LIEGE, each of these bodies decided to undertake new studies and open their sites. These studies and works were carried out on sites belonging to others. In order to encourage private sector participation and to regularize the ownership situation, an immense property operation was set up, entailing the transfer of sites and works among the public agencies – M.E.T., S.R.W.T., the Town of LIEGE, and the Buildings Agency – which was supervised by the Committee for Property Acquisition – a service of the Ministry of Finance, and which acts as the State Notary. Two years were required for the drafting of this deed of transfer, which was first approved by the Walloon Government and then by Parliament.

The Saint-Michel Block This notarial deed made it possible for the S.R.W.T. to arrange a financial deal with a private promoter (CODIC), as the master plan for Saint-Lambert Square provided for multifunctionality. The various functions were not built randomly but were responses to the objectives imposed by the Special Specifications and economic considerations, as the promoter could then hope to make the most of his block by attracting not only retailers but also business (offices)

and persons seeking housing accommodation in the “hypercentre” of LIEGE.. Nowadays the Saint-Michel block comprises 4 buildings designed by different architects from Liège and which have been built around the pedestrian routes that knit the various neighbouring districts together. Although the new Saint-Lambert Square had been the subject of argument for more than 30 years, the SaintMichel block was built in less than 6 years: Nowadays, the block covers an area of 1.3 hectares, and comprises 15,000 m2 of retail space, 8,000 m2 of offices and 10,000 m2 of housing, terraces and hanging gardens, as well as 500 underground parking spaces.

Saint-Lambert Square: A crossroad for busses?

Saint-Lambert Square appears to be something of a nexus for the various transport systems in LIEGE. Indeed, apart from the TEC, there are also the railway passengers who use the Gare du Palais (25,000 a week).

The pedestrian The new layout of Saint-Lambert Square takes more account than ever of the pedestrian. What was formerly a busy crossroads is now semi-pedestrianized. Saint-Lambert Square can also be negotiated by wheelchair users and complies with most standards in this respect.

Extensions to the law courts This dossier comprises the implementation of the decision adopted by the Council of Ministers in November 1989. The aims of the project, apart from the important criterion of ensuring the satisfactory integration of public buildings, include the following: a. Repair of the urban fabric, b. Bring new life to the adjoining neighbourhoods, c. Create ways that give new structure to the neighbourhoods and link them to the urban centre transform the motorway traffic into traffic which is more suited to urban life and pedestrians, d. Recreate public spaces with a simple and familiar geometry, are which are easy to remember, e. Provide car parking space which meets all the needs of the new centre, f. Make the greatest possible use of the underground structures built between 1975 and 1981, by modifying and reinforcing them in certain parts so that they can be used for other purposes.

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Apart from conforming to the programme of requirements, the architect also wanted to create Law Courts that integrate smoothly into their environment. Plantings have also been carried out in front of the Palace of the Prince Bishops, when the Buildings Agency completed the new layout for Notger Square.

Accessibility of the public buildings and the buildings open to the public for handicapped persons conforms to the standards currently in effect.

Pierreuse

Galeries Saint-Lambert

Links:

Numerous houses in this street date from the 17th and 18th centuries. The approaches to the Square - Rue du Palais, the Pierreuse district – are currently the object of much property restoration work, with façades being cleaned up, generated by the certainty that the Square is to be finished under the guidance of the Regional and Federal authorities.

http://www.buildingsagency.be/, www.liege.be/,

A new centre for retail development. The purpose of the project is to make a response to three fundamental aims: a. Extend the “Carré” shopping area by improving access from Saint-Lambert Square and providing links with the Saint Michel block, b. Renovate run-down buildings (restoration of the façades overlooking Saint-Lambert Square and the Place de la République française) c. Ensure that mass transit users crossing the square have the feeling they can shop.

Specifically, the former Grand-Bazar will offer 26,000 m_ of retail space (i.e. 11,000 m_ extra). At present there is a renewed desire to restore multifunctionality to the centre of Liège, and to see residents returning to the downtown area.

Tivoli Tivoli is the name given to the vacant space between SaintLambert Square and the Place du Marché. In 2000, this space was used for a replica choir of the former Saint-Lambert Cathedral. At present there is much discussion about this space. a. Some persons argue that residents are already used to the square as it now is, and that it would be better to wait before definitely closing it off. b. Others argue that putting a building on the Tivoli site would dwarf the Place du Marché, which would then be completely overshadowed.

http://www.ulg.ac.be/geoeco/lmg/hyperpaysages/liege/saintlambert/archeoforum.htm

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4.4

Member updates

4.4.1

Member update 3: “Standard of Fundamental Performance of Government Buildings”, by Yumi Sato

Introduction Yumi Sato is Deputy Director for the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) in Tokyo.

Member update The study on Standard of Fundamental Performance was started in 1998 at the background of starting an administrative reform.

This forced the MLIT to outsource architectural design, to put high pressure on cost reduction based on the financial difficulty, and to push delegations in using the private sector’s ability. It was also the time that Architectural Standard Law shifted its style from one that stipulates specific ways of planning and construction methods to one that stipulates outcome performance.

Basic ideas to set the criteria are to list the contents of fundamental performance that government buildings should satisfy systematically, to describe the requirements with outcome-based performance, and, to define the performance levels up to the use of the facilities. Main purposes of the standard are: - Make the most of private sector’s ability - Perform better accountability - Improve cost-effectiveness - Use mainly at the planning stage o to clarify the requirements of clients and to tell them properly to architects o to check if the designs, the works of architects, satisfy the requirements The Standard has currently to deal with the establishment of methods of verification. There must be a review of the completed facilities and feedback on its results to the management process as well. At third, evaluation of existing facilities must take place in order to use them more effectively and efficiently.

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4.4.2

Member update 4: “Different updates of the Public Buildings Service”, by Joe Moravec and David Bibb

Introduction Joe Moravec is the Commissioner at the U.S. General Services Administration and David Bibb is Deputy Associate Administrator at the U.S. General Services Administration in Washington D.C..

Together they tell us about “Different updates of the Public Buildings Service.

Member update Joe presented at fist the Public Building Service Management Agenda. The agenda contains three main elements, Asset Management, Human Capital and Operations. Asset Management has to deal with restructuring and reinvesting in the Governmentowned inventory. The state of the public buildings is energy insufficient and under funded; $ 5,5 billion in repair and replacement is needed. In order to define a suitable strategy, the US General Service Administration has distinguished different categories of their inventory. Pre-1950 categories are the Historic inventory (1810-1941), and buildings to support the World War II effort. After Figure 28: “Boxy buildings”; Federal Building, Los Angeles

Figure 29: Federal Building and Courthouse, Phoenix

the World War II, modernism and brutalism become important architectural streams in the Great Society. Quantity prevails, and cheap materials are used to raise boxy buildings, like the Federal Buildings in Los Angeles and Phoenix.

After the Great Society, the Contemporary inventory pays a lot more attention to architectural quality. Design Excellence, finally, contains 200 high quality and sustainable buildings of magnificent design.

The asset-level of financial performance is uneven so a portfoliowide perspective is required. 557 buildings (32.3 million square feet) are actually non-performers. Approximately, 190 buildings, comprising 30 percent of the space, generate 90 percent of the FFO (Funds From Operations). The owned inventory has to be restructured to consist primarily of strong income-producing properties. GSA defines three main tasks: - Work-out or sell non- and under-performing assets - Concentrate resources on performing assets - Improve quality of space of customers

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To distinguish different kinds of performing assets, GSA ure the success of the strategy one can pay attention to the increased return on value, improved workspace quality, decreased repair liability and the reduced number of non performing assets.

The Human Capital Strategy is all about acquiring en keeping (young) talent and people productive capacity in the Governmental Organisation. The best people are needed with the right skills at the right place and time in order to be relevant for the customers needs. The work-process must be redesigned to function optimally and to compete with private parties.

The Management Agenda on operations is focussing on outsourcing of activities to private parties. The National Broker Contract is a PBS outsource model and creates opportunities to lower costs, to improve service(!) and to increase the workload capacity.

To invest in human capital is one of the keys to success. Training, workload capacity and distribution are important factors as well.

Concluding, the management agenda has to deal with restructuring and reinvesting in the Government-owned inventory. In association with investing in the people’s productive capacity (human capital) and outsourcing must this management-strategy lead to deliver a superior workplace for the federal worker and superior value for the American Taxpayer.

Performing:

Tier 1.

Solid financial performance - satisfies long-term customer needs

Tier 2a.

Good financial performance – large capital improvements required

Under-performing:

Tier 2b.

Poor financial performance

Non-performing:

Tier 3.

Poor financial performance – assets with negative cash flow

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Thursday

5.

THURSDAY: QUALITY WITHOUT COSTS?

5.1

Keynote

5.1.1

Quality and procurement in a changing world of work, by John Worthington

Introduction John Worthington is the founder of DEGW and Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield and Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg. DEGW is an international design and consultancy practice specialising in the workplace. The practice has been a leader in research into the impact of information technology on the design of the workplace, buildings and cities. John’s work has included briefing and user research for leading corporations, government agencies and public sector clients. He has advised the Danish Government Property Services Agency on the implementation of new ways of working. He currently chairs design advisory panels in Dublin and Rotterdam on managing the process of intensification, innovation and change.

Presentation Information and communications technology over the last ten years has had a dramatic impact on the way we undertake work, the structure of business organisations and workplace settings.

The presentation set out the changing trends in workplace design and management and the impact this is having on the way successful companies are procuring and managing their accommodation to find a creative balance between reducing costs (efficiency) improving staff performance (effectiveness) and establishing an identity that is challenging to staff and inspirational to customers (expression).

New flexible ways of working provides openness, flexibility, adaptability, collaboration, communication, and socialisation. Instead of the individual workplace, the distributed, shared workplace will be used increasingly. Changing patterns of tenure leads to a shift from fixed to variable costs. Flex space and demand space will meet the demand of flexible working: adaptability, ease of communication, expression, identity and accessibility are required.

To procure and manage their accommodation, companies emphasize in shifting to effectiveness. Efficiency is about drive down costs and space use intensification, while effectiveness is about investing in people and their qualities. Expressiveness is about the messages the environments convey. Creative environments integrate efficiency, effectiveness and expressiveness, which lead to increasing value.

The focus of Corporate Real Estate Management is changing.

It starts with iterative briefing with continuous evaluation and feedback to learn from experience. We need to act proactive and manage space and time instead of the real estate alone. The changing focus of CREM leads to emerging methods of procurement: Outsourcing of services, terming contracts for major capital projects, long term property partnerships and public private partnerships. Public Finance Initiative (PFI) is a more risk sharing methodology than PPP, and based on completely outsourced maintenance and exploitation. This complex contractual arrangement diverts risk to those with experience but neglects the importance iterative briefing and design. The challenge for new procurement processes is to re-establish iterative briefing and design process and to create a culture of trust and collaboration, not conflict. In this way, quality can be ensured.

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After his presentation a few questions were asked.

Question: How do you organise partnerships and organise the right triggers in the own organisation?

Answer:

First the attitude/culture in your organisation should be right, than you have to share trust together with your partners.

Question:

Where is the customer in this perspective?

Answer:

The client, user is busy! You have to move from shell (=building thinking), via client _( on a strategical level) to user (=individual) thinking.

Question:

How hard is it to convince the decision makers?

Answer:

Try it in a property board, but it is not always so explicit in this board.

Question:

How do you measure if we are doing our job well?

Answer:

It’s al about perception, not about actions!

Question:

How do you feel than that housing is helping your work process?

Answer:

You have to benchmark two things; Business measures like sales/performer per user Buildings measures like square metres per user

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5.1.2

Dinner speech by Marjanne Sint

Introduction Marjanne Sint works as Secretary General of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning & the Environment. Marjanne Sint joined the TWN-participants for dinner at Hotel New York in Rotterdam.

Speech Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Rotterdam, and to Hotel New York in particular. A little over ten years ago, the hotel was still the old Holland-America Line building. A historic place from which emigrants sailed, hoping to make a new life in America, and where ocean liners docked. But little of that hope and glory remained ten years ago. The building was derelict, the windows broken. A ‘For Sale’ sign had hung outside for ten years, and in all that time not a single person showed interest.

Riek Bakker, director of Rotterdam’s urban development department, once stayed in a hotel on the other side of the river. She saw how the building had fallen into disrepair and mused on how wonderful it would be to do something spectacular with it. What followed was an explosion of creativity and debate. Architects, urban planners, hoteliers and local authority departments pooled their knowledge and ingenuity. The local authority put a lot of money into the renovation, and adviser Dorine de Vos travelled the world seeking inspiration for the interior.

And so Hotel New York was created. Tasteful, unpretentious and with fantastic views. A place where your champagne bottle is wrapped in a blue-checked tea towel – excellent champagne, but not flashy. You don’t see many spoilt, whining tourists here. It is a place where bon vivants, artists and foreign architects meet. They come seeking inspiration for their own projects, and to engage in lively conversation over coffee, while enjoying a view of the Maas.

The success of Hotel New York – where room occupancy averages ninety percent – gave the south bank of the Maas new allure.

And the Holland-America Line building was not the only one that was in a bad way back then. The district that now proudly bears the name Kop van Zuid used to be a windy, desolate place that Rotterdammers would hurry past as quickly as they could. You can see for yourselves how much it has changed. It is now a prime international venue. Shops, bars and restaurants, banks and a

metro station have transformed it into an exciting, flourishing area.

The Government Buildings Service, or RGD – part of my Ministry – was able to help by commissioning an impressive new court building. Its formal but attractive style is ideally suited to a city like Rotterdam, which has the reputation of being a real working city. Rotterdammers are down-to-earth people who go straight to the point. And that attitude has taken them a long way. That’s how people see the city, and Kop van Zuid reflects that image. An attractive second city centre has been created here, without any fuss. As Secretary-General of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, I am proud that the RGD was able to contribute. It is precisely what the RGD wants to see – functional, high-quality buildings that boost the surrounding area.

I hope that the energy emanating from Kop van Zuid and this hotel will also inspire you. That is why the RGD invited you here, and has arranged an extensive tour of the area for you tomorrow. You will also be meeting the inspiring Aaron Betsky, director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, or NAi, which is also here in Rotterdam. Betsky has a reputation as a journalist and he always has something interesting to say. I am sure he will be able to revive your spirits after a week of tours, lectures and discussions. You will also have the opportunity to visit the Architecture Biennale that opened at the NAi last week. The theme this time is mobility.

I’m sure you will find it interesting, having experienced various Dutch forms of transport today – including boats, trains and buses. Tomorrow should be interesting too, and I hope you enjoy it.

But I have held up the proceedings long enough. Let us now turn our attention to the excellence of Hotel New York’s chefs. Bon appétit!

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5.2

Site visit

5.2.1

Boat trip on the river Maas: “Living with water”, by Bart Schultz

Introduction Professor Bart Schultz is author of more than 150 articles in the field of land reclamation, drainage and irrigation and editor of several proceedings of National and International Conferences. He has visited more than 30 countries to appraise, evaluate, or advice on land reclamation, drainage and irrigation projects. He travels the world to tell how you can manage water.

Presentation Bart Schultz explains that the Netherlands is a situated in the delta of the rivers Rhine and Maas and that about half of the country is below see level. We are now sailing to the port of Rotterdam, which is one of the largest ports of the world and serves as a gateway for the German Ruhr-district.

To be able to sail on this river and to prevent the river from flooding there is a need to manage the river. This is done by different measures as groins, weirs, sluices, winter beds and the policy of “space for the river”.

The organisation of water management is the responsibility of the ministry of Traffic and Water state. This ministry is organised in the policy part of the Directorate General Water, in an implementation part of “Rijkswaterstaat” and an Inspection part which checks if the implementation is done well. Also the provinces and the so-called “waterschappen” have a task in the water management.

To state the importance of water management in the Netherlands some events in the past have to be considered. In 1953 a heavy storm together with spring tide on the North see caused massive flooding in coastal parts of the Netherlands. To prevent that this would happen again the “Delta plan” was made to prevent flooding from the see in the future. After completing the “Delta plan” in the eighties, the rivers were becoming a major concern. In 1993 a commission of Boertien made estimates of the amount of water, which could enter the Netherlands via the river Rhine in the future. To meet this amounts of river water with the same safety standard as the Delta plan for the sea, a Delta plan for the Great

Rivers was made. That this was necessary showed the heavy rainfalls in 1998 and 2001 whereby the water level in the large rivers reached critical points. The new policy became “Space for the Rivers” which leads together with heightening the dykes also to more spatial space for the river.

Besides these measurements in the past we have to look also in the future. Change of climate, continuing bedding down of the land and other factors need continuous rethinking how we can secure the Netherlands from flooding. An important item is that we have to think more internationally, because the problems are caused by international factors and cannot be solved only by national measurements.

Note: More detailed information about this topic is to be find in the article: “A simple start with far-reaching consequences” written

by Bart Schultz and Dick de Bruin.

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5.3

General meeting TWN 2003

Introduction David Bibb led this session where Japan and the USA presented the next TWN meetings in 2004 (Japan) and 2005 (USA). After this presentation, Bonnie MacKenzie informs the delegates on the future TWN-meetings and asks suggestions from the participants.

Meeting

Next year U.S. General Services Administration will host the W4 in Philadelphia and/or Washington DC. The question is how we can combine the W4 and TWN and keep the linkage that we have connected this year.

This year the amount of participants is fewer (now 22 people) and about half of the people are new. The delegation from Hong Kong could not participate this year due to the SARS-virus. The W4 needs new members and it is not expensive because there is no annual fee but only the participants’ fee for the W4 workshop.

TWN 2004, presentation by the Japanese delegation Closure of the meeting The delegation from Japan thanked the Dutch Government Buildings Agency for organising this year’s TWN-workshop.

In 2004, the TWN-workshop will be held in Yokohama, the second largest city in Japan. The concept of the 2004 TWN-workshop will be “Old and New”. Everything is changing and there seems nothing to learn from the past. There is an old proverb saying: “A wise leader learns from the Old and knows the New” This theme will be specified by the following sub themes: - Sustainability - IT and work-style - Universal Design These (sub) themes will be discussed by lectures and workshops and seen in practice by site visits.

TWN 2005, presentation by the American delegation The TWN-workshop of 2005 will be held in Washington DC. An introduction video was shown about the characteristics of Washington DC. Update of the W4, by Bonnie MacKenzie This year was an historic moment with the meeting of W4 and TWN in Maastricht. On Monday the W4 started with a keynote speaker in Bonn and afterwards a site visit in Bonn en Cologne.

Learning partnerships are the discussion theme for two days on subjects like urban planning, knowledge management etc. The goal is to exchange ideas on these subjects throughout the year, so not only during the yearly W4 meeting.

David Bibb thanked the Japanese delegation and Bonnie MacKenzie for their presentations. He thanked Françoise Szigeti for her role in developing TWN. David Bibb then opened the discussion on what can be done better in the future in the organisation of TWN. David Bibb stated that there are 16 members of the TWN now and that there is a need to find new partners. Françoise Szigeti has a list of organisations in countries that have contacts with her. Ivette Meijerink explained that there is contact established with public real estate organisations in Belgium, Denmark and Germany. She has the impression that the Belgian Buildings Agency, which we visited in Liège, is interested and also the Danish Governmental Buildings Agency. David Bibb has the impression that also the Californian organisation is interested. So not only national but also regional public real estate organisations are interested. Françoise Szigeti explained that the Australian organisation has some budget problems and is therefore not present this year. It was also stated that it would be interesting if some of the eastern European countries would like to participate.

Louk Heijnders emphased that he would like to discuss the corporate strategy of the different organisations more.

David Bibb thanked the participants for their input for future TWNsessions.

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6.

Friday

6.

FRIDAY: RECEIVING QUALITY IN THE CRE’S AROUND THE WORLD

6.1

Keynote

6.1.1

Five lessons from the Netherlands, by Aaron Betsky

Introduction Aaron Betsky works as director of the Dutch Institute for Architecture. The presentation tells us the arguments for the Dutch town planning and architecture.

6.2

Forum discussion

Introduction This forum discussion was held by Bonnie MacKenzie and the theme was “quality”. The panel members were: - Klaus Ansmann, from the German Deutsche Post - Harry Baayen, from the Dutch Government Buildings Agency - Joe Moravec, from the U.S. General Services Administration - Arnold Butler, from the British Office of Government Commerce Discussion

The presentation took place in the NAI, the Dutch Architecture Institute, the largest architecture museum in the world. This is a platform for architecture where architecture can be studied, is collected, discussed, archived and more.

Presentation Aaron Betsky gives a vision of Dutch society and the role of architecture in this society which is based on his article “The Dutch Model: A Fortuyn-ate Tale” published in Archis #4, 2002.

‘What is the definition of quality?’

Dutch architecture and design has in the last few decades been able to develop in a way that can make a significant contribution to the way we understand, use and plan our environment. This development has been made possible by a history of self-consciousness about space and its uses (because of the continual fight against water and the density of occupation of the land), government subsidies for architecture, design and planning, and an embracing of the modernist belief in the possibility of making a --literally-- better world.

Harry Baayen from the Dutch Government Buildings Agency linked

First Klaus Ansmann from Deutsche Post defined quality. In the period after the Second World War, in the time with lack of money and resources in Germany, definition of quality was based on high standard and future oriented durable goods. Today quality means meeting the needs of the users, investors, municipalities etc, now and in the future.

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quality with the mission of the Dutch GBA: co-operation and development.

Joe Moravec from the U.S. General Services Administration defined quality as producing better results. Quality is nothing exclusive but is a way of doing. Quality can be seen more as a process than as a product.

Bonnie MacKenzie concluded that there is a difference in the definition of quality.

Joe Moravec said that when people are too focused on the process they tend to forget the result. You have to think about the project from an outside perspective; “How do we help the customer?”.

This means less focus on rules and more focus on the customer.

Harry Baayen stated that the customer is right but that you have to educate your customer so that you get a customer that demands quality.

‘Is there a difference between government and private sector regarding quality?’

‘How do you measure quality?’

Joe Moravec stated that quality is not static but a development.

Without desire there is no progress. It should be a cultural ambition of doing things right. Quality through the eyes of the stakeholder is total quality of result and process.

Arnold Butler from the British Office of Government Commerce stated that there should be a balance between innovative designs and how this design is delivered (best practice). He explained a procedure/instrument of evaluation of projects and process, not afterwards but also in the beginning and even before.

This procedure is called “Gateway Review” and consists of 6 stages or “gates”; 1. Strategic Assessment, to confirm business strategy, 2. Business Justification, to confirm business justification, 3. Procurement Strategy to confirm procurement method and sources of supply, 4. Investment Decision, to confirm investment decision, 5. Readiness for Service to confirm “readiness for service” 6. Benefits Evaluation, to confirm “in service” benefits The results of this review process are confidential and targeted at the Senior Responsible Owners. More information of this tool can be found in the appendix, PowerPoint presentation “A brief overview of the OGC Gateway Process”.

Arnold Butler tells that the conclusion in Great Britain is that working in teams is the best way to reach the right results.

In response to Arnold Butler’s overview it was stated that working in a group from the start to the end of a project is good for the process and therefore the product will also be a success.

The question raised how to get there.

There are so many governmental goals to fulfil but where is the customer?

Arnold Butler stated that each department with it’s own budget which has a large project should fit in an innovation goal and give incentives.

Joe Moravec confirmed that governments have different goals and there should be a balance. In the U.S. quality in architectural design, historic preservation, security and sustainability are reached successfully. Problems are the quality goals in the sector of economics and urban planning.

‘Is the private sector only cost oriented?’

Klaus Ansmann said that global companies are doing these things also. In his own organisation there is also a changing mindset.

Money was always the least important factor but costs are becoming more important.

Harry Baayen stated that the cost incentives are working well with the introduction of a landlord/tenant relation. Research has shown that governmental buildings are 14 percent more expensive than private sector buildings but governmental buildings offers better technical quality and customers demand for this quality. Quality versus (higher) costs creates tension.

In the U.K. there is a difference in quality demand between ministries but the government, as a whole, should deliver better service. The problem is what quality items are the most important.

Quality is not an absolute. There is no absolute definition of quality. The definitions vary from part to part and the technology and circumstances change very fast. What are the expectations of the stakeholders in your situation?

Joe Moravec said that it depends which market you are serving.

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Bonnie MacKenzie stated that quality has different levels; everything should not be at the same level. Affordability is also a quality.

Joe Moravec said that quality is not always more expensive.

Quality will be achieved when it is being supported.

In 10 years from now, will this discussion be different from now? What is quality in the future?

Joe Moravec said that the role of the government is changing. The definition of quality will evolve. A leading point should be how we serve the public the best.

Klaus Ansmann endorsed this and added that we should not only create icons but that social measures are equally important.

Harry Baayen sees differences in the future. The workplace is changing and demands higher quality but that is also culture.

Architects always want to create something different. It is not always better but that takes 10 years to see if it is better. But progress is good!

Arnold Butler added that in the future the pace of change will increase and therefore the role of the government will also change.

Joe Moravec said that corporations also have social goals and he sees a convergence from government and private sector.

After this view into the future Bonnie MacKenzie closed the debate and thanked everyone for the input.

6.3

Site visit

6.3.1

Kop van Zuid

The last event on the program was a guided tour at Kop van Zuid, a new urban revitalisation project and an extension of Rotterdam’s present city centre on the south bank of the river Maas. Here follows a short presentation of the project.

Rotterdam The heart of Rotterdam was destroyed during the bombardment in the Second World War. Luckily, the reconstruction created a new attractive city centre. Thus, Rotterdam is no longer nationally and internationally ‘only’ famous for its port activities, but also for the architecture of the new areas for living and working.

Rotterdam is a city that has prepared itself for the future. At a great pace, but at the same time with a vision. In a self-willed way, though thoroughly taking into account all demands a complete city with an innovative economy imposes on an enterprising government.

Kop van Zuid2 Kop van Zuid is an urban revitalisation project and an extension of Rotterdam’s present city centre on the south bank of the river Maas. By 2010, the Kop van Zuid will be part of the city centre on both sides of the river. It is thanks to this river and the neighbouring 19th century districts, that the Kop van Zuid remains and will remain a Rotterdam district with a maritime past. This turns the Kop van Zuid into a special extension of the city centre across the river in the area around the harbours Binnenhaven, Entrepothaven, Spoorweghaven, Rijnhaven and the Wilhelmina Pier.

At the end of 2000 the infrastructure was nearly completed.

The Erasmus Bridge, the metro station Wilhelminaplein and the Varkenoordse Viaduct are fully in use today. Over sixty per cent of the housing programme has been realised or is under construc-

2 B. van Norden, Kop van Zuid, City of Tomorrow, Kop van Zuid Communications

Team, Spring 2002

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Figure 30: © Informatiecentrum Kop van Zuid Foto: Tom Pilzecker Fotografie, Rotterdam The Erasmus Bridge

Figure 31: © Informatiecentrum Kop van Zuid Foto: Tom Pilzecker Fotografie, Rotterdam The World Port Centre

tion. As far as office programme is concerned, forty-five per cent of the planned floor area has been realised or is under construction, some 70,000 m2 are being developed.

The Rijksgebouwendienst involvement 3

Over forty per cent of the business/retail/hotel and catering accommodation has been realised or is under construction. All other facilities have either been realised or are under construction, like the Ichthus Hogeschool Rotterdam, primary schools and the Luxor Theatre. All this emphasises the energy with which the government and business community are carrying out the Kop van Zuid urban scheme. Around 2010, here, on the spot where over a hundred years ago the initial impetus was given to the present position of Rotterdam as the world’s biggest port, 5,300 new residences, 400,000 m2 office space, 5,000 m2 business space, 30,000 m2 educational facilities and 30,000 m2 recreational and other facilities will be realised. Furthermore, there will be 7,000 built parking spaces for private use on the Kop van Zuid. This number does not include 1,300 parking spaces that will be accommodated in the public car park Rijnhavenkade.

The Government Buildings Agency has played a significant role in the start up of the development of Kop van Zuid. In 1989, the municipality of Rotterdam signed an agreement with the Dutch state regarding a substantial financial aid that the state had granted for the development of Kop van Zuid. The financial aid granted among other things ninety-five per cent of the financing of the infrastructure to and on Kop van Zuid. Because of this the Government Buildings Agency, subdivision of the state, was in the beginning of the 90’s one of the first parties deciding to realize a substantial investment in office buildings on Kop van Zuid. This investment concerned approximately one quarter of the total area of office buildings (377,000 m2 ) planned on Kop van Zuid.

This investment was not without risk. To begin with, the investment climate was on that moment not very favourable for such a 3 Mr. T.M. Edzes, ing. R.A.J. Muijsers, Economische effecten van gebiedsgerichte

vastgoedinvesteringen door de overheid, Casestudy naar de Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam, Universiteit Nijenrode, 15 July 2002

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large project of office buildings. Furthermore there was at that time not much belief in the potential of the location. However, after the investment by the state, the development of the area came to a excellent start. The reason for this was that other investors became interested in the location and decided to invest.

Figure 32: © Informatiecentrum Kop van Zuid Foto: Tom Pilzecker Fotografie, Rotterdam The Zuid Towers, Luxor Theatre and the Erasmus Bridge

Class and High Quality4 The close cooperation between authorities, clients, urban designers, architects and engineers and the joint striving for class and quality lifts the Kop van Zuid project to a high level. This concerns not only housing and office buildings, but also street furniture, paving materials and green spaces. It is not only functionality that counts, but also appearance. Look, for example, at the design of the Erasmus Bridge, the metro station Wilhelminaplein and the World Port Centre. Or at the dwellings in the Entrepot Area, Landtong and Stadstuinen. Thanks to a surprising combination of the existing harbour docks and historical buildings with innovative architecture, Kop van Zuid distinguishes itself from other metropolitan ‘waterfront projects’ in the Netherlands and Europe.

4 http://www.kopvanzuid.rotterdam.nl, 12 December 2002

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Appendix

Participants Canada International Centre for Facilities Public Works and Government Services Canada

Françoise Szigeti, Vice-President ICF Carol Beal, Assistant Deputy Minister Mike Hawkes, Director General Bonnie MacKenzie, Regional Director General

Finland Finland Post Ltd. Senate Properties

Petri Lehtola, Director Aulis Kohvakka, Managing Director

Germany Deutsche Post Immobilienentwicklung

Klaus Ansmann, Managing Director

Japan Japan Post Corporation Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport Nihon Meccs Co. Ltd. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Urban Development Co.

Mexico Comisión de Avalúos de Bienes Nacionales Norway Statsbygg

South Africa Department of Public Works Sweden Postfastigheter Statens Fastighetsverk

The Netherlands Government Buildings Agency

Shiro Nitanai, Senior Deputy Director Eiji Teramoto, Director Yumi Sato, Deputy Director Yoshiki Ikeda, Director Nobuhiro Koga, Executive Manager Hideki Kawabata, Manager

Juan Pablo Gomez Morin Rivera, El Presidente

Kjell Baug, Deputy Director General Torgeir Thorsnes, Head of Market Relation

James Maseko Director General

Sven Fristedt, Technical Director Roland Persson, Property Director Peter Ohrstedt, Chief Architect

Fred van der Veen, Director General Joop Pot, Deputy Director General Maaike Gudde, Deputy Director Alex Vermeulen, Account Director Ivette Meijerink, Deputy Head Louk Heijnders, Director Ryan van de Ven, Director George Ang, Strategic Implementation Manager

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Staff Organisation Government Buildings Agency

Chairpersons Government Buildings Agency

Delft University of Technology Workshop facilitators Government Buildings Agency

Ivette Meijerink Selina Roskam Kristina Lundmark

Harry Baayen (Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday) Joop Pot (Thursday) Hans Beunderman (Tuesday)

Astrid van Meeteren Hans Cox Leo Hendriks Albart Petersen Erik van den Eijnden Kristina Lundmark Christiaan van der Heijden Louk Heijnders

Delft University of Technology

Pity van der Schaaf

Centre for People and Buildings in Delft

Wim Pullen

Dewever Advies

Marcel Dewever

Deutsche Post (Germany)

Insa Dimitriades Karin Lehmann

Rapporteurs Government Buildings Agency

Erik van den Eijnden Jeroen Plaisier Ronald Snel Dorine Verlaak Kristina Lundmark

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Colofon

Rijksgebouwendienst The Netherlands Juli 2003 Composers Kristina Lundmark Selina Roskam Reporters Erik van den Eijnden Dorine Verlaak Jeroen Plaisier Ronald Snel Kristina Lundmark Photos Jeroen Plaisier Selina Roskam Maaike Gudde Hideki Kawabata Design Bureau Vormgeving & DTP VROM Printing-office The Document Factory

Dit is een publicatie van: Ministerie van VROM > Rijnstraat 8 > 2515 XP Den Haag > www.vrom.nl

Ministerie van VROM > staat voor ruimte, wonen, milieu en rijksgebouwen. Beleid maken, uitvoeren en handhaven.

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