Take a look at Ahrend’s flexible furnishings for Government Office Buildings

Design for flexible use

The four-tower office building in Rotterdam has been renovated and redesigned. These towers provide places to work and meet for civil servants from a range of ministries, departments and independent administrative bodies; they have to be able to use them on a flexible and temporary basis. Commissioned by the Central Government Real Estate Agency, OTH Architects developed a furnishing plan. Ahrend then furnished the two thousand workstations and meeting places and provided the conference rooms with dynamic and flexible seating and standing furniture.

Close collaboration

The renovation was carried out according to a strict schedule. This meant that the overall process had to be a close collaboration between the contractor, the client and Ahrend. Hans Cuvelier, Account Manager at Ahrend, looks back on this with pleasure. Especially now that the result is visible: an attractive Government Office Building that is 90% furnished using Ahrend products. ‘Thorough stocktaking and preparation contributed to an ongoing process of renovation and furnishing: it was delivered floor by floor!’

‘‘The result? An attractive Government Office Building with a flexible interior!’’

Work- and meeting places

The Rotterdam Government Office Building chose Ahrend Balance for its workstations. The conference rooms have a range of Ahrend tables: Aero, 314 and folding conference tables, and several versions of the Ahrend Well chair. For the meeting places at the coffee machines, they chose picnic tables. Acoustic screens have been set up on several floors. What is special about these panels is the use of recycled felt.

Revitalised furniture

The contract for the various Government Office Buildings was granted not only because of Ahrend’s extremely broad range, but also with circularity in mind. Ahrend has recently furnished a Government Office Building in Utrecht with revitalised desks.

Hans Cuvelier: ‘The existing workstations from the Rotterdam office building were modified by Ahrend into desks that could be adjusted in width. The frames were adapted so that their width could be adjusted from 120 to 160 cm, as a number of departments within the organisation required narrower workstations. So if a narrower desk is required, adjusting the width of the frame is straightforward. The tabletops are then cut down to the correct format and reattached to the modified frame.

Since the contract was initiated, around 3,500 workstations have already been modified or refurbished.