Levob Penthouse

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Levob Penthouse_view from Utrechtsweg

Levob Penthouse_smooth top

Levob Penthouse_meeting room_view towards tower the "Lange Jan"

Levob Penthouse_roof terrace

Levob Penthouse_view from Zonnehof square

Lange Jan_floor plan

Levob Penthouse_exploded view

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Facts

Year: 2013

Typology: Office, Transformation

City: Amersfoort

Country: Netherlands

Client: Bouwfonds/ Triodos

Floor area: 300 m²

The LEVOB building is one of the masterpieces of the career of the father of Kas Oosterhuis, Joop Oosterhuis. The building has recently been saved from demolition, thanks to the efforts ABC Real-estate (Marcel Loosen) and architect Paul Loosen. Bouwfonds / Triodos commissioned ONL to investigate whether it is feasible to develop a new structure on the roof of the LEVOB building, by designing a sketch design for the LEVOB Penthouse. This commission posed a very honourable, but also very challenging task to Kas Oosterhuis: designing a penthouse with his own specific signature, while paying respect to the original design by his father. As Kas Oosterhuis' father understood and respected the search for a smooth formal language, with the aid of advanced digital techniques, it seemed appropriate to look for a smooth contrasting addition to the LEVOB building.

Contrast

While the design of the penthouse creates a sharp contrast between angled and smooth, between serial production and mass-customization, it has a clear resemblance to the original building in materials: glass, steel and aluminum for shell and core, wood and stone as finishes. With the use of computer-aided manufacturing techniques, it has become possible to mass-customize these materials to unique building components. The smooth shaped bubble rests on top of the modernist building and moderately retreats from its sides, remaining an independent shape.

The droplet

The streamlined droplet is shaped with a dynamic towards the city center of Amersfoort, in accordance with the prevailing wind direction. This makes the head of the shape clearly visible from the city's ring road and disappears from sight towards the south-west side of the LEVOB. A total of 300 m² of Gross Floor Area will be realized within the droplet shape, with two main meeting rooms oriented towards the city, main office spaces along the perimeter and a lounge area in the tail of the volume.