Triodos Bank is one of the most sustainable banks in the world. The bank, founded in 1980, stands for economy, culture and nature.
Triodos Bank is currently growing rapidly and therefore decided in 2013 to bring together a team of architects and interior designers to build a new office. 7 years ago, the designers were invited to come and have breakfast at 6 o’clock in the morning at Landgoed Reehorst. Here the question was asked: ‘if the building is now complete, what would you like to have achieved?’The entire team unanimously agreed that it should be a building that represents the connection between heaven and earth, according to Odette Ex, interior architect .
Sustainable aspects in the building:
- The strengthening of the Ecological Network
- Stimulates travel by public transport due to its location next to the stadium
- The roof of the building is overgrown and offers nesting places for birds and bats
- Use of sustainable building materials such as wood and extra thick glass to keep the heat in.
- There is a Heat Cold Storage in the building that maintains temperature to heat or cool the office
- There are approximately 3,300 m2 of solar panels and charging stations for electric (shared) cars in the parking lot. This way the office is energy neutral
- The building is ‘remountable’, which means that it can be taken apart for reuse in the distant future
- Natural materials such as wood and linen have been used in the furniture
- Rainwater is collected and used to flush toilets and water the estate
The location of the new office is Landgoed Reehorst. This is a natural estate next to the station in Driebergen-Zeist.
To translate the vision and mission into the building, the starting point of the design was perfection vs imperfection. For this they used the Golden Ratio and a broken plate that was glued together with golden glue as inspiration.
The interior design was entirely based on the estate. The earth tones, the colors of the trees in the different seasons and the higher you go in the building, the more it becomes white and blue. The colors of the sky and the sky.
To strengthen the connection between inside and outside, all walls are made of glass. This gives you a beautiful view of the estate. In addition, nature has also been brought in in the design in various ways. First in the ceiling. The ceiling is designed with traces of a mushroom as the starting point. In the core of the building, different types and sizes of wood run upwards in the shape of the tracks.
In addition, many trees were felled during the construction of the new office. All these trees have been used in the furniture. They have turned it into tables and chairs that are located throughout the building.
Due to the round shape of the building, a solution had to be found for the acoustics. For this they used another natural product, linen. Linen walls and linen seats give the building a special acoustic comfort.
The team that supplied the design for the realization is RAU Architecten and has won a prize with this design, “Code for sustainable built environment, Breeam 2021“.
In addition to this prize, the Triodos Bank branch has won 4 other prizes;
- “Office Building of the Year 2019” by Architectenweb
- “Most Sustainable Project of 2019” by Cobouw Awards
- “Nature-inclusive Building and Design” by the Vogelbescherming Nederland and Mammals Association
- “Most Sustainable Project in the Netherlands 2020” with the Golden Frog by the Sustainable Building Awards.
FOLLOW YOUR HEART
USE YOUR HEAD
– Triodos Bank
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