The building is part of the central belt of offices, companies and hotels at Schiphol airport. When the railway station was built in 1976 it took account structurally of the multi-storey parking facility to be designed above it. The Traverse is a broad roofed pedestrian passageway providing a rapid link with Schiphol Plaza. The complex consists of eight distinct office buildings linked by a single main level of central facilities, the whole being lifted into space on Y-shaped concrete columns. Concrete frames in the facade bear aloft the freely spanning floor slabs. Concrete shafts, for the stability of the complex, accommodate washrooms, the main services network and the vertical circulation. Accessed by a triple-height entry hall with lift and escalators, the complex sports light transparent facades finished in aluminium, steel, granite and glass. A space bounded by glass brick partitions and containing reflecting pools, waterfalls and a glass artwork links the passenger parking with the office complex.
Clients
Kantorenfonds Nederland
Schiphol Real Estate
Architect
Benthem Crouwel NACO
Interior architect
Vignelli Associates (1st phase)
Gross floor area
30000 m² with 2500 parking places (1st phase)
35000 m² with 3000 parking places (2nd phase)
Start design
1990 (1st phase)
1998 (2nd phase)
Start construction
1992 (1st phase)
2000 (2nd phase)
Completion
1996 (1st phase)
2003 (2nd phase)
