Municipality of Haarlemmermeer

The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is in a period of change. In preparation for the move to the new Hoofddorp based Town Hall in 2027, the municipality are using a new temporary space designed by Hollandse Nieuwe to already transition from a traditional office space, with a focus on individual workspaces, towards a new hybrid work environment with a wide variety of shared workplace options.

Sustainability, health, and circularity are considered important pillars of the new workplace strategy and of the new ”temporary” location.

client	Municipality of Haarlemmermeer
program	Council chamber, offices, meeting centre
completion	2022
area	9500 m²
location	Hoofdorp
sustainability	Carbon footprint 49.738 tonnes

A sustainable success story
in a circular building
The new accommodation consists of two towers connected by a single-storey level on the ground floor. The building provides an open, shared working environment without any rooms designated to a single user. Each department will have a home-base area where direct colleagues can find each other and access different styles of workspaces that support their different needs.

By creating enough concentration, workstations, team spaces and various sizes of meeting rooms in each open-plan area, employees can easily find the most suitable place for their specific activities.

Located centrally to the working areas is a large void that acts as a central meeting point where the living room areas are placed. This is where informal meetings and larger events such as birthday celebrations can take place. The void also ensures there is always (eye) contact possible between colleagues on the above or below floors.

A new opening has also been created between the two towers. This reinforces the restaurant’s position as the attractive centrally located meeting place. The restaurant has been designed in such a way that sliding doors can divide the space into different compartments, making it suitable for different types and scales of events.

The council chamber is directly connected to the restaurant. The council meetings are often held in the evening, and so being able to cater for these events while within the designated security barriers is a great advantage.

The existing identity and colours of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer have been used extensively throughout the new space. Fragments of the illustrative logo have been selectively on walls and doors along with accents of the logos colours, giving the work environment the look and feel of the municipality as well as helping create a clear navigation and zoning.

"Sustainability, health, and circularity are considered important pillars of the new workplace strategy and of the new ”temporary” location."

Circularity, health, and sustainability
Sustainability and reuse are hugely important principles in this project. For example, the existing ceilings have been retained and 100% of the walls, doors, furniture, and other elements that were part of the previous occupant’s interior were reused and integrated into the municipalities new space. Where possible, existing wall positions were retained to minimise investment in new acoustic elements.

In several cases, re-usable products were resourced from other locations or projects. Aluminium framed glass doors from a separate project were dismantled and rebuilt in Hoofddorp for the temporary space, the old council chamber was completely dismantled, modified, and rebuilt in the new location and moss panels that were previously scattered throughout the old town hall were collected and placed on the walls in the council chamber, contributing significantly to the acoustics and experience of this important space.

Another milestone was that no new furniture was purchased for this project . After a thorough inventory that considered technical performance and aesthetic value, the existing loose furniture was given a new place in the new temporary accommodation. The same approach was applied to the art collection of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer.

The new public counter, reception desk, cabinetry and the pantries are made of clear FSC-certified birch plywood coupled with sheets of recycled plastic. Efforts were made to design from standard sheet sizes to minimise sawing losses and all these products are demountable and thus easily reusable in their continued, long-life cycle.

New carpet tiles made from recycled yarn with an acoustic bio-based backing were used in the work areas, and the walls were fitted with PET felt to improve acoustics. Due to this approach, the project’s carbon footprint is 49,738 tonnes. This is 51.5% lower than that of a traditional non-circular project. Despite the high level of circularity, the design still looks new, fresh, bright, and well-finished.

Partners
This project was partly realized by many participating design partners and parties, with whom which we have greatly enjoyed working together with. Our thanks goes out to:

Building specialist: Verwol
Project management: Con2epts
Installation advisor: J. van Toorenburg BV
Photography: Ewout Huibers