Occupying a seven-storey building on Amsterdam’s Keizersgracht originally built in the late 19th century, the new NIO House Amsterdam renovates the building with an interior design by MVRDV. It combines design elements reflective of NIO’s brand with a respectful treatment of the historic building. The building’s seven floors now form a colour gradient inspired by NIO’s “blue sky coming” slogan, from earthy colours on the lower floors to an airy blue on the top floor.

The arrival of a NIO House turns the building not just into a typical “car showroom”, but a public building and a NIO community that contributes to the neighbourhood that hosts it. The public is enabled to conveniently book the family-oriented and flexible spaces, such as the co-working areas and meeting rooms. Above the car showcase on the ground floor is a café including a soft yellow kids’ corner; next, the second floor hosts the Forum, a space for presentations and knowledge sharing, as well as a larger “Joy Camp” for children to entertain themselves; then come co-working spaces and an art and design gallery on the third and fourth floors respectively; finally – above a fifth floor reserved for NIO’s own offices – are event spaces in the sixth floor and the Rietveld rooftop pavilion.

In MVRDV’s design, the staircase, with its historic details once again revealed, becomes a central element of the design, and is always visible from the main spaces on each floor to help orient visitors. Throughout the project, the space is opened as much as possible to create a light and airy environment, removing internal walls, raising ceilings, and emphasizing vertical connections such as the atrium that links the ground floor with the café.

The design team devised a palette of materials that recreates an atmospheric journey from earth to sky. On the ground and first floors, the walls are panelled with a recycled, 3D-printed beverage carton material developed in partnership with Amsterdam-based Aectual, which gives an earthy colour and a fluted texture to the walls. On the level above, the walls and floors are finished with wood, while on the third floor, wood floors are complemented with eco-friendly paint. The fourth floor features an orange gradient on its walls, which draw attention upwards to the vaulted ceilings of the original building. The floor uses Durabella, a terrazzo flooring that is known to be sustainable, seamless, and flexible, which is also made up of rapidly renewable resources.

This gradual vertical change culminates in the top two floors. The walls of the sixth transition from gold to blue, leading into the sky-blue floor, finishes, and ceiling of the rooftop pavilion. Here, panoramic views over the rooftops of Amsterdam complete the feeling of expansive lightness, giving space for visitors to reflect on the future to come.