BP Office by GROUP A
GROUP A have designed a new office for BP in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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Description from the architects:
BP Raffinaderij Rotterdam is both the largest and the youngest oil company operating in the Netherlands. The companies strong and dynamic character will be expressed in the design of their new main office.
The office will be located close to the BP refinery, but at the same time the safety of BP employees has to be guaranteed. GROUP A has met these demands by designing a building that takes BP’s core values as a point of departure, thus creating a sustainable, safe and healthy environment for dedicated and proud employees. The buildings location on the d’Arcyweg is situated on the edge of the tough, industrial landscape of the refineries and the green, watery landscape of the Brielle lake. Its position right in between these two very different areas bordering the A15 motorway ensures that the location will be a landmark.
On the north side the building is hidden in a new artificial dune, while it appears to be ‘breaking’ out of this dune on the south side. By embedding the building into the landscape, safety measures against the explosion hazard posed by the refineries are being complied with. The head office is a dynamic expression of the connection between landscape and building mass.
Visit the GROUP A website – here.
Photography by Roos Aldershoff and Daria Scagliola & Stijn Brakkee
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Architectoid on 20 Sep 2011 at 8:35 am #
Great interior elevations the wood panel wall has that intense feeling of warp speed.
Bassel on 20 Sep 2011 at 12:42 pm #
This building is well-spent petro-dollars! Subtle yet expressive.
pfarm on 20 Sep 2011 at 7:37 pm #
nice!
Nancy S. on 20 Sep 2011 at 9:05 pm #
uI like the way the building looks like it grew oit of the landscape. The wood panels are gorgeous!
TAE on 21 Sep 2011 at 10:46 am #
Consider this from the description: “[T]he safety of BP employees has to be guaranteed”; and “…that takes BP’s core values as a point of departure, thus creating a sustainable, safe and healthy environment”.
Is this some kind of sick joke? How were those ‘core values’ applied in the Gulf of Mexico? Oh wait, that was the ultimate example of BP’s *other* core values: profit uber alles, safety and the environment be damned.
I’m no activist, but this is just perverse.
TAE on 21 Sep 2011 at 10:47 am #
BTW, it is certainly a beautiful structure nonetheless.
Cristina on 21 Sep 2011 at 7:34 pm #
Don’t you think it’s a bit too soon to be pretending like BP cares about, “creating a sustainable, safe and healthy environment…” for anything or anyone. This eco-friendly attitude is far from the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of that company. With that being said, the building is impressive, but maybe they should have put those “petro-dollars” back into some of the environments they recently destroyed.
Dave on 21 Sep 2011 at 9:17 pm #
We are a website about design. Please try to keep your comments about the design of the building, and the work of the architects.
Maira Evans on 24 Sep 2011 at 12:14 pm #
Stunning design!
Frederick on 30 Sep 2011 at 2:51 pm #
Stunning movement and organic feel throughout the space. Like standing at the edge of a riverbed, complete with polished rocks for furniture; beautiful.