De Walvis Office Building, Amsterdam, NL
Ready for the future with a new façade
The Amsterdam office building “De Walvis” from the 1960s has undergone an impressive metamorphosis after a complete renovation. With its new, horizontally accentuated glass façade, the building radiates modernity and lightness. In the highly selective solar control glazing from SCHOLLGLAS, portholes specially developed for the project were inserted as opening sashes.
Built in the rationalist style in the 1960s, the “De Walvis” office building is located on the island of Bickerseiland in the north of Amsterdam’s historic city centre. It is named after a former shipyard on the harbour island: “Walvis” is Dutch for “whale”. The building, which is now getting on in years, was converted by KAAN Architecten into a modern property for the advertising, media and tech industries, for which the client Maarsen Groep wanted a “hip and industrial” look. The new design elements “clarity”, “lightness” and “elegance” are not least represented by the ingeniously designed glass façade.
Project data
Architect
Kaan Architecten, Rotterdam/NL
Client
Maarsen Groep, Amsterdam/NL
Façade Planner
Aluverre Gevelbouw B.V., Hardinxveld-Giessendam/NL
Products used
- GEWE-therm® sun: SunGuard SNX 60, 8 mm pane construction; clear float glass, 6 mm; laminated safety glass 66.2 ClimaGuard Premium 2
- GEWE-therm® sun: Lens structure ESG SunGuard SNX 60 HT, 8mm; ESG float glass clear, 6 mm; LSG 66.4 TVG ClimaGuard Premium 2T, with round glass cut-out
- GEWE-therm® sun: SunGuard SNX 60 pane structure, 6 mm; float glass clear, 4 mm; ClimaGuard Premium 2, 4 mm; all glass round ø 382 mm
- GEWE-therm® sun: Lens structure ESG SunGuard SNX 60 HT, 8mm; Float glass clear, 6 mm; VSG 44.2 ClimaGuard Premium 2
Sustainably renovated and certified
The 10,000 square metre building has undergone extensive modernisation and radical changes both outside and inside. The old building has been gutted down to the shell; Floors, columns and the core were the only ones to remain intact. Due to the low room height, all technical installations were hung visibly under the floor ceilings. The industrial charm created in this way has a positive effect on the desired workshop character of the modern office floors.
Sustainability runs like a red thread through the renovation of “De Walvis”. From the continued use of the existing property to sophisticated solar control glazing and energy-efficient technology – the renovated office building meets all the requirements of a sustainable building and has been certified BREEAM Excellent for this.
Horizontal façade with a maritime look
The contrast between the seemingly massively cantilevered façade bands and the weightless-looking, floor-to-ceiling glazing could not be greater, giving the building a completely new, horizontal structure. The dark anodised aluminium cladding protects the windows from wind and weather and gives the frameless, transparent glass façade design support. In order to optimise the daylight yield, floor-to-ceiling glazing with extremely narrow profile strips was constructed. All fixed glass elements have the same dimensions and are precisely matched to the width of the building.
As an allusion to the district’s maritime past, the architects had a circular opening sash incorporated into every second glass element. On each floor, 362 round windows were installed at eye level, which can be easily opened with a round swing sash. The window sashes of the portholes were specially developed for this project. They are secured with a silicone edge seal and were floated into the circular surface cut-outs of the fixed glazing.
Highly selective sun protection with optimized aesthetics
For the glass, planners and façade builders rely on triple glazing from SCHOLLGLAS with GEWE-therm Sun sun protection glass with SunGuard SNX 60. The consulting team at SCHOLLGLAS had recommended the triple silver-coated solar control glass because it allows light-flooded interiors without heating up by strong solar radiation. SNX 60 allows 60 percent of natural daylight to pass through, but only 29 percent of the sun’s heat, making it one of the products with the highest selectivity (ratio of light transmission to solar factor) on the market. Also important for the comfort of office users is the optimisation of internal colour reflection, which gives the glass an extremely neutral hue, regardless of the viewing angle. For the glass structure of the Gewe-therm sun insulating glass, SunGuard SNX 60 was finally combined with float glass clear and LSG ClimaGuard Premium 2. The sophisticated glass structure thus also contributes to the reduction of energy costs by reducing the need for artificial lighting, air conditioning and heating.
Thanks to the high-performance glazing from SCHOLLGLAS, it was possible to implement a highly transparent, functional façade at “de Walvis”, which has a unique maritime look with its eye-catching portholes.
