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Amsterdam’s emerging business district of OverAmstel is now home to Mediavaert, the new timber hybrid office of leading Benelux-based media firm DPG Media. Key elements in the design of the new office building include flexibility, innovation and creativity. In addition to workplaces for employees of media labels like Het Parool, de Volkskrant and Trouw, the building includes test labs, radio recording studios for Qmusic, meeting rooms, restaurants, an espresso bar and an appealing event location on the quay of the Duivendrechtsevaart.
With a gross floor area of 46.000m2, Mediavaert is set to be Europe's largest timber hybrid office building and one of the largest in the world. Sustainability was a fundamental for this development, with the use of timber significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the building. The building services were designed to consume as little energy as possible, including a flexible displacement ventilation system, ground source heating and cooling, and LED lighting enclosed in a smart building control system. The building has obtained a BREEAM Excellent label.
Arup was appointed to deliver structural design and building services, working alongside Being, Team V Architecture, DGMR, Delva Landscape Architecture, and Skaal.
Project Summary
46,000 m² timber hybrid office building
Europe’s largest timber hybrid office building to date
BREEAM Excellent
A gateway to the Amstelkwartier
Mediavaert, the new DPG Media HQ, expands Arup’s growing portfolio of work on iconic timber hybrid developments in the Netherlands; we have worked on the 73-metre tall HAUT tower and the 70-metre tall faceted silhouette of Elements.
The headquarters count with three connected multi storey buildings on a continuous plinth of green terraces with ceramic façade panels produced locally by using natural materials. Throughout the interior, a series of open spaces, terraces and openings will create a sense of rhythm, enhancing the user experience and delivering different social spaces for interaction and collaboration.
The flowing shapes, colourful ceramics, and green terraces will make Mediavaert an iconic landmark to anyone entering Amsterdam. DPG’s new headquarters joins a roster of other timber hybrid developments, including Haut, and will cement the ongoing transformation of the riverside Amstelkwartier.
“Building on our work on the iconic Haut high rise, the Netherland's tallest timber residential tower, Arup is proud to employ our timber expertise on the DGP's new headquarters that sets the bar high in terms of sustainable, innovative design. ”
Mathew Vola Director
Timber – sustainable office design
Together with developer Being, Team V Architecture, Delva Landscape Architecture, Skaal, and DGMR, we have put an emphasis on contributing to a healthy and inspiring working environment with abundant natural daylight that is surrounded by green areas, including rooftop gardens.
Our structural specialists developed a timber hybrid scheme introducing timber hybrid slabs and timber columns in combination with a flexible building services concept that enhances staff wellbeing and sets a new standard for modern sustainable office design; all this within a limited floor to floor height. Our building specialists have ensured that the building consumes as little energy as possible while being easily adaptable and intelligently controllable.
This translated into large scale ground source heating and cooling system, large PV arrays, LED lighting and an easily adjustable floor-based displacement ventilation climate concept, complemented by a smart building control system tailored to DPG Media’s ever-changing organisation. The cooperation between our structural and building specialists with the architect led to an almost completely demountable and therefore highly circular building. Upon completion we are aiming to obtain a BREEAM Outstanding certificate, the highest sustainability rating awarded by the Dutch Green Building Council.
Construction started in early 2021, and DPG Media expects to move in to the new Mediavaert office in 2024.
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