Directly next to the A2 highway, one of The Netherlands main highways, a continuous sound-barrier is being built out of existing office buildings to protect the residential area behind it against the noise of the A2 highway. Capgemini’s new office building fills in the most southern part of this sound barrier, right next to a public train station.
The office is built between the busy A2 highway and the more urban street scaled Reykjavikstaat. For the purpose of sound-dampening, the overall height of the building is at least 65 feet. The structure of the building consists of two rectangular volumes of 564 feet long and 53 feet wide, with three transverse spans of 47 feet wide. In the middle between these floors remain four open spaces; a courtyard, a patio, an atrium and an entrance hall.
The building has two different faces, the “highway facade” and the “city facade.” The city facade is a classical facade, while the facade facing the highway has a more dynamic appearance with long horizontal lines. The three transverse spans in the floor plan show themselves by a brace-shaped detail in the facade. These accents give rhythm to the strong horizontally-articulated facade.
The main entrance is located on the square, facing the railway station and is spatially connected to the atrium on the first floor, which includes the restaurant and overlooks the highway.
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