Amsterdam architects unstudio have recently built a new state of the art architectural marvel to serve as headquarters for the Dutch national tax offices and the student loan administration in Groningen, the Netherlands, and have branded it as DUO2. DUO2 is a consortium made up of Strukton, Ballast Nedam and John Laing. The architect is unstudio in Amsterdam. The subcontractors are Lodewijk Baljon landscape architects, ISS and YNNO. Arup and Studio Linse have played an important advisory role.
The DUO2 is a 92-meter-tall state of the art architecture and has a frontage surrounded by horizontal fins which keeps a large amount of the heat outside the building, reducing the requirements for cooling. DUO2 has the facility to accommodate 2,500 employees, and has the provision of underground parking for 1,500 bicycles and 675 cars in an underground garage; the building will be surrounded by a large public city garden with a pond and a multi-functional pavilion with commercial functions.
Extensive studies of the sun and wind has given DUO2 an aerodynamic structural form. The facade design, terraces and the rounded corners assures the least disturbance to the surrounding urban green space climate. The important element in the design was to create a healthy and energy-efficient interior climate along with the workspace comfort of the employees. The comfort of the employees is guaranteed by plenty of natural daylight, ventilation and adjustable heating, and access to fresh air for individual workspaces.
A softer and a more open-minded profile was the aim of the architecture to present to these institutions. Tall buildings are generally related to the novelty of the mid-twentieth century, wherein their businesslike exteriors gave a kind of feeling. In a unique distinction, the DUO and Tax offices have resemblance of a public institution with a much friendlier and easy to get in approach.
The DUO2 project is one of Europe’s most premier pieces of architectural marvel with an aesthetic of sobriety and has been branded as the building of the future. The addition of varied passive and active environmental and energy-efficient solutions has made the building to be one of the most sustainable office buildings in the Netherlands.
Via: Dezeen
