Campus AchmeaApeldoorn, The Netherlands (2006–present)

In 2012, the Centraal Beheer Achmea insur-ance company will move a portion of its operations from its celebrated headquar-ters, designed by Herman Hertzberger, to a location on the periphery of Apeldoorn, in an offshoot of the largest natural area in the Netherlands: the Veluwe district. Fol-lowing a closed competition, Bureau B+B won, together with HMADP architects, a commission involving the expansion of existing building and a new concept for the terrain. Because of the campus-like arrange-ment of the buildings, it was possible for B+B to seamlessly extend the surround-ing Veluwe landscape – a landscape that can be summed up as slightly rolling, with dunes, birch trees, juniper bushes, heather and pine trees – over the entire terrain. A start had already been made: a magnificent existing wood, a shelter belt, a beach-tree lined road and an existing immense Sequoi-adendron giganteum. All of the interven-

tions reinforce the impression of working in the middle of nature. The workplace is only a few steps away from nature, as a place for lunch, walks or meetings. In addition, spots of particular interest are located at different locations on the terrain, which, although referring to characteristic elements of the Veluwe, are clearly of a more cultivated type: circular gardens with bright-blooming heather species, a fancifully shaped water garden and two pavilions hidden in the wood. A system of wooden paths, just slightly raised above the landscape, resem-bling worn-down paths, oscillates across the terrain. In the centre of the plan area a path zigzags upward, becoming a deck elevated 3 m above ground level, under which parking facilities are located. The de-sign represents a comprehensive approach to the terrain: a landscape, rather than an office garden.

Type:Utilitarian Green, Campus

Designteam:Bureau B+B stedebouw en landschapsarchitectuur

Program:Paths system, deck gardens, moorland, forest and 2,500 parking spaces

Surface:25.2 acre

Budget:€ 3.500.000,-

Client:HMADP Architecten

Pinus sylvestris

0 20 100

Erica tetralix ‘Conunderwood’

Erica tetralix ‘Pinkstar’

Calluna vulgaris ‘Amethyst’

Erica carnea ‘Winterfreude’

Erica carnea ‘Rosalie’

Erica carnea ‘Nathalie’

Erica carnea ‘Winterbeauty’

VIIVI VIII IX X XI XII I II IVIII V

Betula pendula

Juniperus communis

Sequoiadendron giganteum

Fagus sylvatica

Quercus robur

plan

heather circles

existing trees

plan of the trees