By working with ten design agencies, online travel platform Booking.com deeply embedded inclusivity and diversity into its new headquarters. This is the first in a series of three articles on this much anticipated, state-of-the-art workplace in Amsterdam.

The brand-new headquarters of Booking.com shimmers like a polygonal crystal along the railway and waterfront in central Amsterdam. A huge glass volume, part of which is dedicated to luxury apartments, juts out over a semi-public plinth with a smaller footprint. On the east side, the immaculate building has a ‘crumple zone’, in which balconies and stairwells intertwine. At the ends of the façades, triangular patterns in the office windows are reminiscent of boat sails (the architects prefer to speak of a reference to water waves). They subtly break the huge, 11-storey-high glass surface.

Located on the eastern end of Oosterdokseiland and boasting 65,000 sq-m of floor space, the office building is situated on the last available substantially sized plot in central Amsterdam. Booking.com developed the building with investor BPD and the municipality of Amsterdam itself, but at the end of last year, the tech company sold the building and rented it back on a long-term basis. This could point to the uncertain future of office work, because who can predict whether the workforce of a company like Booking.com will still be coming to the HQ en masse in five or ten years? 

Photo: HofmanDujardin

Amsterdam-based firm HofmanDujardin devised a master plan that approaches the building as a city with a great variety of spaces for workers to work and meet.

Upon entering, the first of two generous atria catches the eye. With its abundant daylight, green wall and almost park-like green strip with seating areas, it feels pleasant, like an extension of the outside. A long, lazy staircase leads right through the atrium from the fifth to the sixth floor, stimulating movement and chance encounters. Throughout the immense building, the great variety of spaces designed for working, eating, learning and relaxing is particularly striking. There’s a lot of colour, a lot of texture and a lot of wood. As massive and unapproachable as the campus looks from the outside, the interior feels so homely.

Diverse design approaches generate an inclusive workplace

The versatile interior is the result of an unusual design process. In 2016, UNStudio, Ben van Berkel’s architecture firm, began sketching the building. HofmanDujardin was given the responsibility of designing the interior. To make the large building habitable for an international workforce, the Amsterdam-based architecture studio and UNStudio devised a master plan that served as a playing field for ten design studios.

The idea behind appointing so many design firms was to ensure inclusivity and diversity while reflecting the global terrain in which Booking.com operates. Marnix Mali, director of real estate & workspace services: ‘Our more than 6,500 employees are on average 32 years old and positively critical. Our workforce consists of more than 100 nationalities and about 85 per cent do not come from the Netherlands. In our mission, we talk about “making it easy for everyone to experience the world”. We wanted to translate that into a building that functions for everyone.’ Portfolios were requested from about 30 international agencies. In the end, ten remained to complete HofmanDujardin’s master plan. Mali: ‘That selection process helped us sharpen ourselves and make clear choices. What do we like, what suits us, what works?’

Photo: Hufton+Crow

Two generous atria bring in daylight and, thanks to ample greenery, feel like an extension of the outside. A long, lazy staircase promotes movement and chance encounters.

The master plan approaches the building as a city with restaurants, bars and break-out areas, but there’s also room for a semi-public auditorium, balconies, a rooftop club and a learning centre. HofmanDujardin devised a set of principles and an extremely expressive mood board as a starting point for these areas. Based on this, CBRE’s design studio, i29, Linehouse, Studio Modijefsky, UNStudio and HofmanDujardin designed a wide variety of spaces. With names such as Nairobi, Dead Sea and Amazon Jungle, meeting rooms and break-out areas refer to popular destinations on the travel platform. In addition, they feel close to home to the many nationalities of the staff, thus contributing to a sense of belonging.

Design in areas, layers and products

In addition to these areas, HofmanDujardin devised so-called layers that recur throughout the building and provide unity. For example, a green layer of mosses, plants and trees – designed and selected by MOSS – extends over the entire campus to contribute to a healthy working environment. Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings designed the coloured floor covering that pops up everywhere in subtle variations. Bureau Mijksenaar was responsible for the interior signage and Studio Rublek for the lighting concepts of spaces like the auditorium and the club on the 11^th floor. A third layer of so-called ‘products’ – custom installations by artists – eventually fell through. The plan for a small city park on the roof was also unrealized. Mali: ‘We would have to outsource all the solar panels on the roof for that. Then we wouldn’t really take sustainability seriously, so we didn’t do it.’ In theory, solar panels provide 19 per cent of Booking.com’s energy needs.

Photo: Matthijs van Roon

HofmanDujardin created informal meeting places set amidst the greenery-filled atrium.

Booking.com looks back with satisfaction on the special design process, although not everything went smoothly. Mali: ‘We gave the designers maximum freedom, but at the same time we wanted to prevent it from becoming a party for anyone. We ensured that people kept talking to one other to find solutions together. In doing so, we strived for consistency based on very practical things such as material maintenance, but also based on wanting to offer our employees a cohesive experience.’ Bob Elshof, global head of real estate at Booking.com: ‘Everyone thought we were crazy when we said we were going to work with so many different agencies, but we would do it again because of the great vibe. We went through the entire design process in six months in a kind of continuous pressure cooker. The advantage of this is that during that time everyone worked diligently on the project, with enormous commitment and focus. We gathered momentum together to get it right the first time.’

CBRE managed the design process. Elshof: ‘During the entire process, there was a bit of friction between the designers on the one hand, and UN Studio and HofmanDujardin on the other. But we’ve always found that dynamic interesting because it leads to fun conversations and questions. And to some extent, you can also create the desired diversity.’ 

According to Mali, the design has become stronger thanks to all the discussions. ‘One of our values is: “Diversity gives strength”. That’s what we firmly believe in. It’s precisely through the diversity of people and backgrounds that you arrive at something better than you could ever have imagined individually.’ Elshof: ‘We like complexity, but ultimately, we want things to be easy for users. You know our app – it’s super easy to book. But it’s very difficult to get that done.’

Tomorrow's article on Booking.com’s new HQ explains how the travel company approached its staff’s wellbeing and sense of belonging.