Amsterdam's Zuidas-WTC office complex

[ronald1987]

This is Amsterdam, too.

Took these pics 2 weeks ago, when I was trying out my new cam. It's something completely different for the city that's known for it's small-scale, historical centre.

1 Mahler 4.

2 Houthoff-Buruma

3 ABN Amro.

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5 Close-up of Houthoff-Buruma

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9 Looks cold, doesn't it?

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11 There was a weather warning in effect when I took these pictures. It was extremely windy, as you can see.

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13 Entrance to ABN Amro (which is an abbreviation of Amsterdam-Rotterdam, the two local banks merged long ago).

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17 Highrises on the other side of the highway/railway tracks.

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21 courtyard at the Rabobank.

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Mahler 4 seen from a courtyard of the Rabobank.

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27 stairs of Mahler 4.

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36 the other side of the highway/railway tracks.

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38 A reminder you're in Amsterdam.

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48 Rain.

49 FedEx brings colour to your life.

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[Darkstar416]

Nice shots Ron! I like how the rain transforms the space a bit.

 

[FutureMayor]

Good Lord, if only our business parks looked like that!

Louroz

 

[simply Dan]

My best friend works on the 6th floor of the ABN Amro headquarters at WTC Zuid. A beautiful complex in an incredible new district outside of the Amsterdam city centre. Darkstar416 and I were both very impressed when we visited in September! Suburban commercial zones such as those in Mississauga, Scarborough and North York should really look to this dense greenfield suburban office development and take lessons for future planning. In particular, the large intermodal train station in the middle and parking for tens of thousands of bikes.

 

[Observer Walt]

Interesting pictures. This is certainly different from what would be found in most "suburban" office complexes here. The difference, if I understand correctly, may be the modes of transportation used by employees. In such locations in Canada, the majority of employees would likely commute by car. A minority woud commute by transit and almost none by bike. Hence big parking lots are set aside, usually on the surface as opposed to garages. I think the transportation mix would be different in the Netherlands and other European locations.

"parking for tens of thousands of bikes." -- Where would you see that here?

 

[simply Dan]

I'll post some of my own pics for you showing the bike parking.

 

[ronald1987]

SimplyDan, this is " brownfield development ", a new development took place where other buildings once stood.
The consensus that is reached more and more here is, that , you should not grab more rural land and use it for (sub)urban expansion.
Though there is undeniably still a lot of suburban expansion goin on, in the form of 'Vinex' housing for instance (pic taken in my neighbourhood):

The front yard on those houses measures 20 centimeters.
The houses themselves are 5.3 meters wide and 9.7 meters long. The backyard is about 11 meters long. Housing like this is rediculously unaffordable to young people that have just started working.

Observer, there is a railway and a highway that separates both sides of this office district. It's pretty accesible by car, when compared to the old city. Hence why many offices locate here instead of in the old town.
In a city like Amsterdam, most people know that it's too much of an effort to get around town by car. Cycling and transit do a fine job, the subway can be packed.
Some people living downtown even dislike the trams, because they compete with walking and cycling.

 

[simply Dan]

The fact that WTC was constructed on brownfield land makes it even better!

 

[unimaginative2]

The next phase will be built on top of the railway line, and the station will replace Centraal as the hub for high speed rail routes.