Ground Breaking for Tower Ten by PLP Architecture

Tower Ten
Tower Ten
Image © PLP Architecture

The construction of Tower Ten, the new expansion of the World Trade Centre Amsterdam, officially began last week. Since gaining planning approval from the city last year, the site has been decanted and prepared ready for part demolition and reconstruction. Much of the structure and slabs of the existing facility will be re-used, though Tower Ten will present a radically different appearance from its predecessor, adding 32,000 sqm of new office space and amenities in the process.

Tower Ten
Image © PLP Architecture

Tower Ten is now under construction and will be completed in 2021. The new intervention is the creation of three linked pavilion buildings to the north-east of the campus, adjacent to a feature 22 storey tower facing Beethovenstraat and the south-west corner of Beatrixpark, which in turn has recently been developed as an innovative extension of the business district.

Tower Ten
Image © PLP Architecture

Circulation atria connect the new and adjacent buildings, bringing natural light into the deeper floorplates. The character of the first campus extension was defined by a curved glass roof covering a lively internal space, and this will now be extended along the northern edge in a swooping wave along the Strawinskylaan, providing a canopy for the pavilion buildings.

Tower Ten
Image © PLP Architecture

The tower is animated by a transparent and active frontage, an inviting gesture that draws visitors into the building and along the public spine that connects through the whole complex. The vertical volume grows from the orthogonal geometry of the WTC grid at its base, then splays horizontally as the building ascends. Bright white sculptural louvres spray upwards like flower stems, giving identity to the eastern entrance.

Tower Ten
Image © PLP Architecture

Rather than providing restrictive and inflexible spaces, this combination of new and retained building elements will allow a great variety of floorplan configurations, fitting many forms of current and evolving workplace types: from co-working spaces and small tenancies to larger multi-storey headquarters.

Tower Ten
Image © PLP Architecture

The WTC will benefit from several further new amenities: the rooftops of lower structures in the complex will be topped with accessible planted terraces, and the new tower features a roof garden. The WTC event space located on the tower’s top floor will offer panoramic views over Amsterdam’s old town and the Zuidas district. Source and images Courtesy of PLP Architecture.

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