HOUSE OF CONCRETE, AMSTERDAM |
Tuesday 20 Mar 2012
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The HOUSE OF CONCRETE is based in a listed building on the Oudezijds Achterburgwal in the middle of the red light district.
The building is an annex of the Oudezijds Voorburgwal 101 and dates back to 1880. The entire team of 35 professional people is distributed over the 4 storeys of the building and the attic is dedicated to the materials library.
At this new location architects, visual marketeers, interior designers and graphic designers work on the projects in an interdisciplinary way. Concrete builds brands, produces the architectural and interior designs and urban development plans, in combination with the main presentations and scale models.
the work rooms
Four works room are divided over three floors (1st, 2nd and 3rd floor). Every work room has an untreated wooden floor, the walls are painted white and have two worktables with a variable number of work spaces.
Every member has its own aluminium trolley, to store personal belongings, drawings, stationary and binders. The trolley has a cushioned top, with concrete-orange upholstery to create additional seating for small team meetings.
Above every worktable hang two ‘dear ingo' chandeliers and one entire wall is immersed in the concrete identity; every team member was asked to collect 10 inspirational images and now there is a collection of 400 frames divided over 4 walls.
Finally, archive cabinets provide storage for all current projects filed in black binders and cardboard A3 boxes. Pinup boards and magnetic strips provide space to exhibit current projects and inspiration.
the central staircase / library
The listed building provides many additional square meters in the hallway and staircase which could have a double function. As the central staircase is the physical connection between the team members, inspiration (our books) is the binding metaphor in our work. By placing the library in the middle of the staircase in combination with a coffee pantry on the 2nd floor, the hallway transforms from a circulation space into a social space.
the better room - formal meeting room
To accommodate meetings with large groups, clients and relations there's a formal meeting space at the 1st floor in the monumental ‘best' room. The room is furnished with a large black oak meeting table with black leather inlay, a black display cabinet placed in front of the windows for scale models, inspirational books, awards and a TV for presentations. A ‘dear ingo' chandelier hangs above the table, 12 gispen chairs, upholstered in black corduroy surrounds the meeting table and art pieces hang on the wall.
the best room - informal meeting room (the snug)
The snug is an informal meeting room on the 3rd floor where officially no clients are allowed. It's a space to have design meetings at the table or on comfortable chesterfield couches surrounded by our collection of magazines.
the kitchen
The kitchen in the back of the basement, looking over the courtyard, is a crucial element in the HOUSE OF CONCRETE. The antique space, including counters and a stove facilitates daily lunches together and once a month a cook-off. A ‘lazy susan' table surrounded by 10 eames chairs in various colours. Restored marble flooring and the walls are covered with original white tiles called ‘witjes' in dutch.
To create additional seating, again the corridor offered sqm to put in an iconic piece of furniture: the lunch tunnel. A zigzag custom-made steel seating with integrated table which is powder coated concrete-orange.
Models+Monsters scale-model workplace
The scale-model workplace is in the front of the basement, next to the entrance of the house. Concrete creates scale-models to communicate the design in the preliminary phase, which is the most efficient method to accommodate the visualisation of spaces, 3d environments, light and materials.
Concrete