NL Architects recently unveiled a beautiful green-roofed office complex for the Welfare Department and Work Agency of the City of Groningen in the Netherlands. Featuring ample amounts of daylight, large open public spaces, and an ascending series of terraced green roofs, the new SoZaWe office is sure to welcome the citizens who come in for assistance while inspiring for the employees who work there.
The office is made up of nine terraced floors and features three large atria that run in vertical columns through the building, pulling in natural daylight to the lower office spaces. Each floor has access to its own green roof and garden space complete with trees and views of the city. Restaurants and a coffee shop make this office much more than just a place to do work, creating a community gathering place.
The SoZaWe is located directly across the street from the Kempkensberg railway station and is a 10 minute bike ride from the center of Groningen, which makes the facility very accessible. NL Architects took care to create a very energy efficient building and utilized natural ventilation and building orientation to reduce heating and costs. Indoor air quality and health for employees and visitors was also very important in the design. The office building will even be buying 100% green power in order to achieve CO2 neutrality.
+ NL Architects
Via Designboom
Nice building, but I’ve got a comment to make on a detail in this text. There is no ‘Kempkensberg railway station’! Okay, there’s a (temporay) railway station near Kempkensberg, but that station is named ‘Groningen Europapark’, which of course is the station that in the future would be in front of this building.