The headquarter offices for the ING Group occupies a long, narrow site adjacent to the motorway ring around Amsterdam. The location is at the junction of two areas, the cosmopolitan high-rise of Zuidas and the green zone of De Nieuwe Meer. The building has been kept low on the green side, with the cantilevered auditorium as a projecting element, and rises towards the urban side.
The building rests on stilts measuring 9 to 12,5 metres in height, so that travellers on the motorway still have a glimpse of the area behind the building. This arrangement also means that none of the offices in the building have their view blocked by the motorway embankment. The entrance zone is ensconced between the stilts.
The new headquarters symbolizes the banking and insurance conglomerate as a dynamic, fast-moving international network. Transparency, innovation, eco-friendliness and openness were the main starting points for the design. The building has an innovative interior environment control system. The double-skin facade allows natural ventilation of the offices without admitting traffic noise. An advanced air treatment system and the use of an aquifer under the building and a mechanical pumping system to provide cold/warm thermal storage make this building energy-efficient.
The atmosphere of the interior is richly varied and features an alternation of open and sheltered spaces. Successive storeys intermingle and offer recurrent glimpses from one to another. Areas with a panoramic view, such as the restaurant, the large conference room and the auditorium, exist alongside introverted spaces. Atriums, loggias, and gardens, both internal and external, are distributed through the building at various levels.
