HofmanDujardin Offices – Amsterdam
HofmanDujardin implemented a design that inspires and energizes their team and clients, expanding creative possibilities for their Amsterdam workspace.
HofmanDujardin has converted an old warehouse into their new inspiring offices located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Rapidly expanding architecture practice HofmanDujardin needed a new Amsterdam home that reflected its unique design philosophy, Shaping Intuition®. So the team conducted a collaborative ‘in-house’ design project to create the HofmanDujardin Office Villa inside an old warehouse. The space is already energising the team, inspiring visitors and proving that an office can be much more than just a place to work.
HofmanDujardin needed more space for its growing team and the new headquarters also had to foster a lively environment for creative work and social activities. Because an architecture firm’s office is also its shop window, it had to demonstrate the team’s creative skills and technical capabilities.
Most importantly of all, however, it had to follow HofmanDujardin’s guiding concept for all projects – Shaping Intuition®. This is a personal approach to architecture, developed over the firm’s 20-year career, which focuses on the well-being of people in their environments.
In Diemen in the south east of Amsterdam, Michiel and co-founder Barbara Dujardin found an existing 1960s warehouse which held hidden qualities behind its closed façade. They stripped it completely, revealing the raw essence of the structure: a consistent grid of slender, steel columns carrying an original period timber roof hidden behind a stucco ceiling. Based on this grid, the team designed completely new façades with large sliding glass doors connecting the interior to a terrace and a garden, designed by the acclaimed and award-winning Piet Oudolf.
This ‘heart’ is comprised of four team work tables, bordered by three closed facility rooms which define distinct spaces within the open plan. At the southern end of the HofmanDujardin Office Villa, a cosy, wood-burning fireplace draws employees and clients alike to get warm and mull over plans and designs. Next to it, a large table and a homey lounge overlook the terrace and the adjacent canal. Two over-sized kitchen islands serve the extended lunch table and double as a place for breakouts, drinks or dinner. These zones – semi-separated from the team tables – offer possibilities for informal meetings and relaxation.
A sequence of five rooms along the east façade are used for more formal meetings, brainstorming sessions, concentration zones and model making. While pin-up walls divide these rooms from each other, staff and visitors are always conscious of the liveable transparency of the Office Villa. All places are connected yet each has its own character. This is at the heart of the Shaping Intuition® philosophy.
Furnishing, materials and lighting are the essential elements that form each space’s character. On the continuous concrete floor, colorful textured rugs combine with loose furniture and carefully selected lighting to create a diversity of atmospheres. Expressive paintings, sculptures, plants and magnetic boards for design work help the building come to life and inspire the team and clients. This life and inspiration also extend beyond the Office Villa’s walls, as the space acts as a beacon of creativity in this up and coming district.
Design: HofmanDujardin
Design Team: Barbara Dujardin, Michiel Hofman, Fabian van den Bosch, Maik Peters, Jiangxi Fei, Kiwa van Riel, Wim Caspers, Daphne van Berkel
Contractor: Bot Bouw
Photography: Matthijs van Roon
