ING House

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 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.