Our story
We are Paul de Ruiter Architects. A group of independent thinkers with a passion for architecture and the art of building. What matters to us is the impact a building has. First and foremost, it has on the people who live, work, and study in it. But it also has on the environment in which it stands: the air, the plants, and the animals.
Wij zijn voorlopers. Al meer dan dertig jaar ontwerpen we gebouwen die iets wezenlijks toevoegen. Daarom nemen we geen genoegen met gemakkelijke antwoorden en standaardoplossingen. We zijn altijd bezig met de next step. Hoe, en hoe snel kunnen we gebouwen Paris Proof maken? Kunnen we de bouwmaterialen van nu in de toekomst hergebruiken? Kunnen we ervoor zorgen dat een gebouw ruimte biedt aan de planten en dieren die er waren voordat het er stond? Kunnen we een gebouw ontwerpen waar mensen gezonder uitkomen dan dat ze er binnengingen? Hoe zorgen we ervoor dat er wordt gebouwd met gezonde materialen? Kunnen we een gebouw ontwerpen dat zijn eigen energie opwekt? Kunnen we, kortom, de revolutie in de bouw versnellen?
This black-and-white photo shows our first office on Leidsestraat in the center of Amsterdam. Paul is still there, as are the Artimede lamps and the skippy ball.
Paul de Ruiter is the founder and namesake of our firm. He graduated from Delft University of Technology in 1990. Two years later, he began his dissertation, The Chameleon Skin, in which he argues that buildings should adapt to their surroundings like chameleons. Moreover, they should generate energy rather than consume it—not only in a technical sense, but also in a human sense. Since then, our firm has designed buildings that know where the sun rises and in which people feel happy and inspired. With that principle, he (and we) was (and still are) far ahead of his time. Paul was recently awarded first place in ABN Amro's Sustainable Top 50, the annual benchmark for sustainability in construction and real estate.
In his dissertation The Chameleon Skin, Paul de Ruiter argues that buildings should adapt to their environment like a chameleon
A prime example of the so-called Chameleon Skin is the Ruby Emma Hotel in Amsterdam (formerly QO), where an intelligent façade with moving panels responds to the outdoor climate and the guest's preferred temperature. This allows the façade to either harvest heat or block it out. The result: energy savings of 65 percent on heating and 90 percent on cooling.
A special climate-controlled facade was designed for Mercator I (1998) in Nijmegen, featuring an outer pane of insulated glass and an inner pane of sun-resistant fabric.
