Paul de Ruiter

Sigmax

Streamlined transparency

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The ICT company Sigmax asked us to design an office to accommodate the merger of two departments within the organisation, with room for further expansion. The office was to be situated in the Business & Science Park in Enschede, opposite the FC Twente stadium and the railway station. We came up with a design for a compact and streamlined architectural structure with an uninterrupted glass façade that lets in an abundance of natural light, which literally improves the quality of life of the building’s occupants.

Theme:
Offices

A minimal boundary between indoors and outdoors

We designed the building in the form of a compact, stacked pavilion with a horizontal line pattern, made entirely of glass and finished with rounded corners. Slim, floating office floors extend outdoors beyond the glass walls, where they become moss-sedum-lined green roofs. Thus the visual boundary between indoors and outdoors is minimised. Workers on every floor have direct visual contact with the green environment around the building.

At the entrance the first thing that catches your eye is a sculptural staircase of white steel, an eye-catching design piece. The bright and open entrance also functions as office restaurant, presentation hall and meeting area.

An interior design that does justice to transparency

The interior design by Ex Interiors sustains the open character of the building in order to emphasise its spaciousness and transparency to the optimal degree. Bright colours and low, compact furniture ensure the view remains uninterrupted. Ex Interiors also designed sound-absorbing wall coverings specifically for this project. The strips of coloured felt are made by compressing and felting recycled textiles from the automotive industry and old carpets.

Greater admission of light via green cantilevers

We angled the building on the parcel to ensure that it is optimally oriented in relation to the sun. We devised a customised climate concept for each of the four façades, with climate control managed directly via the façade. The cantilevers created by the extended office floors differ in depth on each side to serve different purposes. The cantilever on the south side, for example, is over a metre deep so it can function as a canopy. We covered the underside of the cantilevers with stainless steel panels to allow indirect sunlight to reach deeper into the building.

Project details

Gegevens

Location Business & Science Park, Enschede
Gross floor area 2.500 m²
Volume 6.750 m³
Program Office with restaurant and vegetation roof
Start design April 2009
Start construction June 2010
Completion November 2011
Opening February 2012

Ontwerpteam

Client Sigmax
Project architect Paul de Ruiter
Project team Haik Hanemaaijer, Willem Jan Landman, Niels Groeneveld
Adv․ construction Lucassen Bouwconstructies, Hengelo
Adv․ installations Deerns, Rijswijk
Contractor Van Dijk Bouw
Bouwmanagement Kloos2, Ambt Delden
Interior architect Ex Interiors, Nieuwegein
Landscape architect OKRA landschapsarchitecten, Utrecht
Photography Pieter Kers

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