In historical Amsterdam, the office building De Walvis on Bickerseiland has been stripped down to its bones and completely revitalised by KAAN Architecten. The client Maarsen Groep requested a “hip and industrial feel” that would leave everyone in awe and fit with their envisaged future tenants from the advertising, media, and tech sector. Confident interventions in the structure have resulted in a sleek and elegant sculptural form.

De Walvis is a building with a history. It was part of Amsterdam’s urbanisation project of the early 1960s, forced upon local residents despite their protests. Property developer F.H. Gaus announced that Bickerseiland would become a Little Manhattan. Ultimately, this became a turning point in municipal planning policies, shifting from upscaling to community-based building. The current architectural manifestation has turned the building from an intruder into a pleasant neighbour.

With circa 10,000 m2 gross floor area, De Walvis is a typical office building of the rationalist style that emerged in the 1950s-60s. It was designed by architect W.F. Lugthart (1921-1999), known mostly for his Diaconessenziekenhuis in Eindhoven, the first Dutch hospital built by ‘stacking floors’. The neighbourhood did not consider De Walvis – ‘The Whale’ in Dutch, named after the old shipyard nearby – an improvement architecturally and sooner saw it as a threat to their community.

▼项目概览，overall of the project © Sebastian van Damme