ZZDP Architecten B.V.

Haagsche Zwaan

Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits

HAAGSCHE ZWAAN

ZZDP Architecten

ARCHITECTS
ZZDP Architecten

AREA
27500.0 m²

LOCATION
The Hague, The Netherlands

CATEGORY
Offices

YEAR
2010

PHOTOGRAPHS
Michel Kievits

Text description provided by architect.

De Haagsche Zwaan (The Hague’s Swan) reaches high over the city highway to the TNT building opposite and forms a slim, tall portal over the highway Utrechtse baan.

The impression of The Swan leaning or tilting is exaggerated by its tapering form. In contrast to its adjacent neighbour the Swan’s facade is completely transparent executed in steel and glass.

Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits
Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits

It is the architectural answer to an urban planning request by the municipality of The Hague which asked for a second portal over the Utrechtse baan, in the form of a ‘leaning’ office building of steel and glass.

The first portal is formed by the office complex Haagse Poort (Kraaijvanger Urbis, Rob Ligtvoet).

At its highest point The Swan cantilevers 12 meter, the last one and a half meters of which are directly above the city highway. The immense structural forces that are imminent in the cantilevered construction are expressed by the diagonal tension elements on the outside of the longitudinal facades.

Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits
Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits

The long diagonal line of the tension member visually forms an unity with the form of the entrance which is an inverted V situated below the cantilever.

The open form of the entrance is partly inspired by the extensive network of electric cabling that is situated in the ground underneath this part of the building. On the inside the building’s form is expressed in the shifting location of the core on each floor.

Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits
Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits

Still, the floors are unambiguous and can accommodate flexible floor plans and the net to gross ratio is at an advantageous 87 percent.

The site is wedged between a low-rise residential area, the high way and a busy junction. At the rear the building steps down to meet and integrate with the fragile streetscape. Here the above grade parking has been hidden from sight by placing small scale offices at the perimeter façade.

By the power of the impressive geometry of the Haagsche Zwaan, the building has become an icon at the access road of the city.

Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits
Haagsche Zwaan
© Michel Kievits

The special care with which the design, detailing and functionality of the plinth have been dealt with ensures an acceptable integration into the urban fabric. Notwithstanding its extraordinary geometry and complex urban integration, the functionality of the offices is exemplary.


Haagsche Zwaan
First Floor Plan
Haagsche Zwaan
Fourth Floor Plan
Haagsche Zwaan
Twelve Floor Plan
Haagsche Zwaan
Twenty Floor Plan


Haagsche Zwaan
Section
Haagsche Zwaan
Site Plan

ZZDP Architecten B.V.
T +31 20 6471881
ZZDP Architecten B.V.
Valschermkade 37, 1059 CD Amsterdam, Netherlands