OMA on behalf of the state

The Netherlands are opting for a leaner administration. In the building that formerly housed the Ministry for Building, Spatial Planning and the Environment will now be home to not one but two ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and two government agencies. To this end, the architects at OMA have emphatically converted the existing building, erected in 1992. The most important change: the surface areas used by single-cell and open-plan offices have been restructured. As part of this, the architects also changed the access routes to the various floors, inserting a corridor the full length of each story. Moreover, the building was modestly expanded at the southern end, where it now opens out with a new glass facade. Moreover, the new design boasts an atrium in this section, too. Another addition: the existing pedestrian passageway through the building has been broadened and now includes the main entrance. (fap)