Ten Holter Noordam Advocaten: A Contemporary and Communicative Work Environment Adopting Pragmatic Design

Ten Holter Noordam Advocaten was designed by Fokkema & Partners in Rotterdam, the Netherland. The project for this 2,000-square office commenced in December 2016 and finalized in October 2017. The design team adopted a pragmatic design to transform the previous office design with corridors and low ceilings into a more spacious workplace oozing contemporary and communicative work environment.

Thanks to a contrasting color scheme and pronounced sightlines, the law firm now displays a modern and edgy look. Combined with the views of the river and its situation in the surrounding historic maritime area, the office feels more modest yet spectacular and refined.

The ground and top floors are dedicated to formal meeting spaces and reception. The first, second, and third floor are designed as workplaces. Based on the nature of the workplace, the natural outcome of this kind of office typology would be corridor structure and closed off walls. The smart positioning of cupboards offered a possibility to create highly transparent separations without sacrificing a sense of privacy.

The open space around the central core was optimized with relatively transparent and compact offices. It also offers a place to the secretaries’ workstations. Each workstation comes with a picture frame view showcasing the historic views of Rotterdam. The pictures were selected to emphasize the varying identity of the firm’s departments.

The staircase and the elevator are visually disconnected from the work floor due to a contrasting color scheme around the building’s core. This idea makes the office look spacious and unique at the same time. The color scheme may look unusual at first sight, but it is timeless and exudes a sense of tranquility and comfort. Therefore, instead of using the traditional black, each color has a saturation of brown which is perfect for the historic environment.

Via Fokkema & Partners