New IMd Office Opens

November 2011 Recently alderman Jeanette Baljeu performed the official opening ceremony for the new office building of IMd, a Rotterdam based company of construction engineers. IMd chose a former steel factory as their new home, transformed in a rather unorthodox way to become “a playground for engineers”, as architect Joost Ector puts it. A special strategy was adopted in order to create a design that is both economically feasible and architecturally inspiring. Rather than renovating the entire space and having to heat or cool all of it, small pavilions containing workspaces and meeting rooms were strategically distributed throughout the hall. Staircases and bridges connect the pavilions and create exciting spatial experiences and routes through the impressive existing steel construction. New window openings in the façade offer wide views over the river Maas.

Clients Pim Peters and Remco Wiltjer are more than happy: “If architectural transformations are done really well, they can create even more quality than new buildings. That’s what we’ve always said in our own practice, and now our office proves it. The way EHA have combined the old and the new really charges the place with an energy that you just don’t find in new buildings. It’s hard to explain how this affects the atmosphere, but it’s absolutely far better and more inspiring than your everyday office. We’re lucky to be able to experience this every day.” The project attracts a lot of attention as an example of adventurous architectural transformations.

Visitors are being shown around daily and the building will be published in several leading magazines. Read more about the design on the project page.