The Central Government Real Estate Agency (Rijksvastgoedbedrijf) has selected the New Amsterdam Court House (NACH) Consortium for this Public Private Partnership (PPP). The value of the DBFMO project is € 235 million including a 30-year management and maintenance contract.
KAAN Architecten has won the commission to design the New Amsterdam Courthouse. The demolition of the old judicial complex for the construction of the new courthouse in Amsterdam is expected to commence at the beginning of 2017. The courthouse is expected to be occupied in November 2020. The 30-year operating period will commence once the building has been occupied.
 
 

Description by KAAN Architecten

The building will be located at the intersection of the Zuidas and Parnassusweg, where the present judicial complex will be demolished. The new building is to be completed in 2020. In the meantime, the law courts will be temporarily housed elsewhere in the neighbourhood. With a staff of 1.000, including 200 judges and 800 professionals, as well as many daily visitors and the processing of 150.000 cases a year, the Courthouse of Amsterdam is the largest in the Netherlands.

The preliminary design is a stately, open structure which offers both employees and visitors views over the city, and passers-by the opportunity to engage with the building. KAAN Architecten understands that justice is a public affair of the highest importance. This primary feature determines the building’s form, which means that it will be distinguished and accessible.

The courthouse building will be exemplary in its efficiency, like the organisation itself, and be part of the daily life surrounding it. Natural design consequences of this are the big windows at the ground floor as well as the entrance courtyard intended for public use. The city’s streets merge with the layout of the building. The forecourt, the central hall and its foyers, and the waiting areas for visitors are an extension of urban space. Of course, the building’s users will not be ‘on display’. Visitors will find sheltered spots; judges, court clerks and ministerial representatives will have their own screened-off routes.

Inside, just off the central hall, the building will have two independent structures with 50 courtrooms and council chambers, all provided with daylight. The large ground-floor courtroom, for cases that attract a large number of visitors, has been designed with a direct access route that is separate from the central entranceway, so as not to disturb ongoing proceedings. The building will have several gardens. The central hall with escalator will border an enclosed garden, shielded by a glass wall. Vertical gardens will climb through the building among the offices. And in the western part, a sunken garden will supply daylight to the lower floor. A large terrace will also provide 50 workstations with connections.

KAAN Architecten is undertaking works for the New Amsterdam Courthouse as part of a consortium which includes Macquarie Capital, ABT, DVP, construction companies Heijmans and M.J. de Nijs & Zonen, and Facilicom. A 30-year DBFMO (Design Build Finance Maintain Operate) contract, established upon commission by the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf (Central Government Real Estate Agency), forms the basis of this public-private partnership (PPP).

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Architects
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KAAN Architecten (Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen, Dikkie Scipio)
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Project Team
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Ana Rivero Esteban, Beatrice Bagnara, Dennis Bruijn, Sebastiaan Buitenhuis, Marten Dashorst, Sebastian van Damme, Cecilia Dobos, Paolo Faleschini, Raluca Firicel, Narine Gyulkhasyan, Moritz Kühl, Marco Lanna, Yinghao Lin, Marija Mateljan, Kevin Park.
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Visualization
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Beauty & The Bit; KAAN Architecten
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Client
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Rijksvastgoedbedrijf
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Area
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47.257 sqm
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Dates
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Project.- 2014 - 2016
Expected date for start construction.- agosto 2017
Expected date for completion.- septiembre 2020
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KAAN Architecten is a Dutch architectural firm based in Rotterdam, São Paulo, and Paris, with over 30 years of experience in a wide range of scales and typologies. Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio founded KAAN Architecten in 2014.

Through a collaborative and analytical design approach, KAAN Architecten promotes quality, pragmatism, and the Dutch building traditions of sustainability and welfare. This is further refined by merging practical and academic expertise, which supports their response to the increasingly challenging complexities and contradictions of the built environment.

Led by Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio, the firm comprises an international team of architects, landscape architects, urban planners, engineers, and graphic designers. KAAN Architecten believes that cross-pollination between projects and disciplines fosters the essential critical discourse within the firm.

Since its establishment, KAAN Architecten has engaged in a diverse array of projects within both the public and private sectors. Over time, project teams have evolved to become progressively multidisciplinary and dynamic. Their unwavering focus is on fostering a culture of continual evolution, recognising this paramount approach in a profession that undergoes rapid transformation.

At the heart of KAAN Architecten’s philosophy is the belief that all projects acquire distinctive character through an architecturally curated layered dialogue involving all stakeholders. This approach extends to developing enduring relationships with clients, consultants, and partners. In this collaborative journey, each project becomes an opportunity for meaningful engagement, achieving architectural solutions that resonate with the diverse voices and perspectives involved.

· From 1988 until 2013, Kees Kaan was the founding partner of Claus en Kaan Architecten. Kaan graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft in 1987. Since 2006 he has been a professor of Architectural Design at TU Delft and initiator of the Complex Projects Chair, launched in 2012. The Chair's research focuses on large-scale projects that characterise this era of rapid global urbanisation. In 2019 Kaan was appointed Chairman of the Architecture Department. Moreover, he has been a Principal Investigator at Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) since 2016. Kees Kaan is a lecturer and member of various juries and boards in the Netherlands and abroad. Numerous books and exhibitions have been dedicated to his body of work. In June 2024, Kees Kaan was officially inducted as a member of the Académie d'Architecture.

· Vincent Panhuysen brings expertise and vision to each project he undertakes. His impact on the architectural landscape is profound, with a diverse portfolio encompassing court buildings, university centres, governmental and cultural institutions, crematoriums, and apartment complexes. Panhuysen's approach to design is marked by a deep commitment to the entire process, from conceptualisation to construction. While he values functionality and clarity, his architectural ethos transcends passing trends, emphasising a timeless elegance rooted in relaxed functionalism. Central to his design philosophy is a dedication to creating spaces that prioritise spaciousness and clear organisation, hallmarks evident in the work of KAAN Architecten. His role as a visiting professor at Delft University of Technology further underscores his commitment to shaping the future of architecture through education and mentorship. For his special and careful guidance in the renovation of the Provinciehuis of North-Brabant, Vincent Panhuysen was awarded the "Commissarispenning", a medal of merit from the Commissioner of the King Wim van de Donk, in 2015.

· Dikkie Scipio has been trained in various disciplines. She holds a master’s degree in applied arts, industrial, and interior design from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague and afterward qualified as an architect at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture. Simultaneously, she owned a gallery in Amsterdam and a design studio in Utrecht. Scipio’s training allows her to lead work, ranging from large-scale master plans in urbanism and architecture to furniture and interior design, from the initial concept to execution. She is an expert in managing complex projects and processes, with a particular focus on museums and heritage renovation. Scipio is also a writer, columnist, international lecturer, and a member of several boards and juries. As a spokeswoman for integrated art and craftsmanship in architecture, her views have been featured in many publications and documentaries. Since 2019, she has been a professor at the Münster University of Applied Sciences, where she holds a chair in Architectural Design. In 2023 Dikkie Scipio was recognised as Woman Architect of the Year by the Prix des Femmes Architectes.



KAAN Architecten ©Casper Rila

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Published on: June 4, 2016
Cite: "KAAN Architecten win the New Amsterdam Courthouse competition" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/kaan-architecten-win-new-amsterdam-courthouse-competition> ISSN 1139-6415
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