Rietveld Architects New York

Rietveld Architects was one of the first firms invited to help transform a century-old industrial wharf on Cruquius, a peninsula along Amsterdam’s eastern waterfront, into a multi-use neighborhood with ample green space. The firm was commissioned to design the headquarters for Amvest, the company spearheading the development, along with two 40-unit apartment buildings, consisting of condos and rentals. To take full advantage of the site, Rietveld Architects conceived a series of glass and white-glazed brick structures that offer sweeping views of the water and city. A parking garage was placed underground, so that the area would have an inviting waterfront boardwalk. On the ground level of the developer’s office building, a bistro with a soaring ceiling doubles as a cafeteria for employees, while providing the site destination appeal.   

Inventive thinking characterizes much of the office building’s interior architecture. To enhance company communication, all of the offices are situated on the same floor, while conference rooms are located in the mezzanine for convenient public access.  Reflecting what will ultimately be verdant surroundings, the office building features a pair of structural “trees,” whose trunks and branches serve as columns to support the roof. Meanwhile the lower floors hang from the top of the building, an engineering feat expressed in the walls of the stairwell, which resembles a leaf canopy.

Interior design by Carolien Roos

All the good photos are by Chiel de Nooyer

Although the décor is highly traditional as befits a Grade II listed building, Rietveld Architects approached the renovation and design of this opulent terraced house in London with a modernist’s eye for light and space and won a SARA National Design Award for the effort. What made the house so desirable to the client was its view over the treetops of Eaton Square. To make the most of that privileged vista, the firm placed gilt-framed mirrored panels around the main salon, so its reflection can be enjoyed wherever one sits in the room. Meanwhile, all the of the 21st century upgrades are hidden in the classical detailing fo the plaster moldings and joinery. As architectural references to gardens are a cherished aspect of the client’s cultural heritage, the firm added a two-story green wall to the patio which is visible not only through the French doors of the conservatory, but also through its glazed ceiling. Interior with Nejla El-Maghraby, Landscaping by Ellie Petrides

Transforming two apartment floors floating 25 stories above Central Park West into a duplex residence was an intriguing challenge. The client was a cosmopolitan couple who desired a place where family members, hailing from far-flung bases in Southeast Asia and the Levant, might come, gather, and reconnect.

In addition, the apartment also had to host the occasional business meeting, along with formal dinners. In keeping with the Eastern heritage of the clients, they wanted their New York home to be as refined as it was restrained, so it is the art and architecture, interwoven with stunning views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline, that provide the duplex with its interest, warmth, and drama, not the décor. Many of the furnishings, however, are bespoke.

 Vormen Fabriek Affordable Housing

Removal of the industrial building- once a molding factory, allowed for reimagining the 2.5 acre site as an urban oasis. It is difficult to overstate the positive civic impact of transforming a dilapidated industrial site into affordable and supportive housing. From the point of view of density alone, moving in over a hundred families into their own homes revitalizes the area well beyond borders. To promote neighborly interaction and support urban living the design arranges 138 residences around 9 landscaped “pocket parks” over parking for the highest density low-rise housing in the Netherlands.

This is achieved by configuring each two story home back to back and side to side with another above a car parking level below. In other words, the redevelopment has its own parking for cars and bicycles on site. The garage is accessible to the “pocket parks” and homes above by stairs and lifts, but is otherwise invisible. The parking perimeter is reserved for shops and commercial facilities along the area’s flanking roads. Parking at ground level is cost effective and accommodating cars here keeps them off adjoining neighborhood streets. The extra built in height allows for adaptive reuse of the garage when driverless cars become the norm of the future.

The orientation of residences to common areas also affords a sense of safety in a community of watchful neighbors instead of security cameras.

So often what is missing in affordable housing is the dignity and pleasure of personal expression. Therefore small outdoor planted patios and kitchen “potagers”  flank own front doors. To fit 1 and 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms into 500-700 square foot townhomes requires efficient plans.  It helps to design facades with large glass windows opening to the “pocket parks” for the spaciousness that expansive views promote. And creating a skylight above an open stair hall allows sunlight into each home no matter the orientation. Importantly, each townhome entry is accessible off a distinctively planted  “pocket park”- a mini village square, where one’s own front door and garden gives a sense of place and meaning to “this is my home”.

A high-flying media mogul commissioned Rietveld Architects to design an eminently versatile private penthouse with a study and conference facilities on New York’s Highline. The space needed to be intimate enough to successfully host one-on-one power meetings, while also having enough pizzazz to impress a megastar or a cadre of heavy-hitting industry executives. In addition, it had to have the flexibility in size and facilities to host a fundraiser with multiple tables or accommodate a sizable audience for a movie screening. If these weren’t enough challenges, the client also wanted the space to serve as a showcase for an enviable contemporary art collection, and look stunning by day and glamorous by night.

Key to accomplishing these sometimes conflicting tasks was the firm’s decision to move all the utilities hidden in the penthouse ceiling to the floor below and eliminate all extraneous walls, so as to create a living and entertaining space that felt spacious, flowing, and open. Now when visitors enter the residence, they are immediately wowed by a jaw-dropping 180-degree vista of the New York skyline, along with a view of the Highline Park directly below. These thrilling sights also animate the lounge, conference room, executive space and guest office.

To produce such a dramatic interior, Rietveld Architects conceived and custom-fabricated much of the furnishings and interior architecture. There were collaborations with top artisans, like Mira Nakashima, who fashioned the 14-foot-long book-matched walnut table in the conference room, and high-tech manufacturers, like Flatcut, which fabricated the custom-designed metal open-weave curved paneling that envelopes the floor, wall, and ceiling through much of the interior and also crafted the cabinets that conceal the TV and video-conferencing equipment.

The architects also worked with the Dutch carpet company Colorline to produce a special red yarn for the rug in the executive space that would match the vermillion in the vibrant David Hockney landscape hanging on the wall. That hue extends into the lounge area, where hand-stitched padded leather panels envelope the wall, floor, and ceiling, engendering a space that is at once intimate and theatrical. This is a one-of-a-kind space for a truly singular individual.  

The headquarters for this Utrecht-based water company looks like a cutting-edge piece of new construction, but it is in fact a renovated 1960s office building. Rietveld Architects decision to recycle its frame was due not so much to budget constraints, but on environmental principle. Re-use of the old structure also appealed to the client, which views its headquarters as a symbol of its eco-conscious ways. Another distinctive detail of the building is its innovative double-T-shaped prefabricated concrete beams, which support the various floors, eliminating the need for columns.

This elegant fusion of construction and aesthetic epitomizes the approach of Rietveld Architects. Another intriguing solution was how it succeeded in providing the building with operable windows. As it is situated adjacent to a highway, the original building lacked them to insulate it from the noise of passing cars. But by designing a free-form glazed grid that surrounds the building, Rietveld Architects not only protected the interior offices from the solar gain, but also created a sound baffle, so that sliding floor-to-ceiling windows could be installed and comfortably used.  A rooftop terrace, also shielded behind the grid, houses an appealing cafeteria for employees. In a witty nod to Hydron’s business, the firm filled the former basement with water to create a moat around the structure. Visitors have to walk over a bridge to enter the building.   

Inventive staircases are one of the specialties of Rietveld Architects. The firm’s recent design of a residential spiral stairway for a historic Connecticut estate that underwent a complete reconfiguration and modernization well illustrates not only the firm’s expertise, but also its high tech/high touch approach. The original staircase was an ugly service stair, which the client’s family had come to rely upon after the former staff quarters had been converted into a large family gathering space.

Extending from the basement to the attic, the stairway was narrow and awkwardly configured, as the opening on each floor was a different size and the floor level was of a different height. The stair’s placement made prefabrication impossible, so too sectional assembly. Forming it in place using a material like concrete also posed problems. The firm’s solution was to employ a method popular in the Netherlands: glued laminated timber, also known as glulam. Tiny slices of glulam, an inch-and-a-quarter thick, were pegged together to construct the stair. Its shape is much like the keel of a boat: the outer edges are as low profile as possible, meeting on the underside in a ridgeline with a deep profile. While the ridgeline moves from one side of the stair to the other as it travels upward, the thin outer riser and tread profiles remain constant. Despite the irregularity of the floor heights, a comfortable tread level was achieved, and a graceful spiral realized.

Rietveld Architects collaborated with Dutch engineers on the structural form of the spiral, conceiving a design that is stiffer, and so stronger, than one made of steel. While highly engineered, the stair has an effortless air. Enhancing the elegance of its form are the handrails, which are sheathed in leather, with the stitching on the underside, so no joints between the skeins are visible.

InHolland College was built as part of a public/private research initiative to house the undergraduate departments for aerospace and agriculture on the Delft University campus. Its striking appearance reflects its innovative design and construction. As a way to conjoin the two academic departments and administration, Rietveld Architects conceived the building as three-interlocking volumes with shared spaces in the overlap for a cafeteria and lecture hall. The cafeteria sits in a space with a dramatic full-height structural glass and cable façade, while the lecture hall features an upside-down triangular steel structure to reflect the stadium seating. The glass façade has a unique Aramide cable structure running between the two panels of glass. With a thickness of only two inches, the four-story double-pane curtain wall is the thinnest ever constructed. The fritted pattern on the main volumes enables occupants to look out, while significantly reducing heat gain. By night, the dramatic undulating, double-height section becomes a luminous beacon.  

Meester Visserhuis is a Jewish assisted living complex in The Hague, with 40 one- and two- bedroom apartment units. A fresh take on retirement living, it shares a campus with a kindergarten and lower school to provide residents with youthful stimulation and joy.

There are two entries to the complex on different streets, reflecting the different inhabitants, one leads to the apartment tower, where seniors can live independently, utilizing the services from the retirement facility when needed, and the other to the full-care retirement home, restaurant and pool. To make the complex more inviting, the traditional Kosher double kitchen is visible from the street. Parking is underground.

Rietveld Architects was commissioned by a couple with a young family to refurbish the classical revival house that they had recently purchased in southern New England which had fallen into woeful disrepair. The couple also asked that the grounds be completely reconceived. This epic project remains ongoing. So far the firm has redesigned both the front entry portico and the terrace of the main house, adding a chef station with an outdoor pizza oven and a custom ironwork shade trellis with a marble table fabricated in India. It also designed a pool house in the same style as the main house and furnished it with an outdoor four-season hot tub and fireplace.

To illumine the exterior of the house and all its outbuildings, bespoke bronze exterior lights were designed and fabricated in three sizes for post, wall, and pendant mountings. The firm also sited a kitchen garden and supervised its planting, and installed a skating rink which converts into a miniature golf course in summer with famous world landmarks like Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, and Brooklyn Bridge. To encourage non-skaters to enjoy the winter fun, Rietveld Architects built a viewing deck with fireplace.

In addition, it updated the estate’s ancient tennis court, adding lighting and a gazebo for shaded viewing. And it restored the formal parterre gardens, brick garden walls, and pedestal urns, and designed a modern green house overlooking a dramatic new water feature. Finally, Rietveld Architects prepared placement and oversaw installation of several major works of outdoor art, including Sophie Layton’s Field of Flowers and Tom Otterness’s Family of Bears.

On a leftover triangular piece of land, bordered by several mid-20th century apartment blocks in The Hague, Rietveld Architects designed this handsome enclave of 64 town homes — half of them reserved for low-income families. Despite the problematic site, the firm was able to create clusters of light-filled houses, each with five exposures, including skylights, and all equipped with patios and insulating green roofs. By limiting car access, residents walk about the community by way of winding paths, which add visual interest and surprise to the development, while also conserving large swathes of lawn where children can play. 

Developed as part of a public/private project, Eisenhowerplein is an 84-unit black-framed white brick apartment building located near the train station in Rijswijk, a small town south of The Hague. Rietveld Architects were awarded the design of the building, in addition to being commissioned to oversee the design of all the buildings erected around the public square adjacent to the train station entrance.

The building’s De Stijl-inspired façade serves more than a decorative function, it enables all of the apartment to have recessed balconies that are either double-height or open-cornered Those on the first three floors are insulated them from street noise by operable window walls. In addition, the scheme also provides every unit with a corner window in the living room. A final appealing architectural detail in this unit is its inviting brightly colored, daylight-flooded lobby.

This is the third office complex that Rietveld Architects has designed for Interpolis, a Dutch insurance company. It is located in Zoetermeer, a new town east of The Hague. Its design is as functional as it is striking. The angled south façade is fully glazed, but it slants away from the sun, a design feature, which along with horizontal louvers, protects it from significant solar gain. Similarly, the aluminum paneled wall that bisects the building is equipped with large horizontal joints that funnel rain within the wall to keep its gleaming white surface clean. Parking is concealed within the sloping plaza, which serves as the entry to the building.  Inside, a six-story void makes for a dramatic light-filled lobby.

Long before Sir Norman Foster conceived a circular building for Apple, Rietveld Architects proposed a wheel-shaped headquarters for Spyker, the exclusive Dutch sports car company, which was to encompass a factory, museum, race shop, showroom and administrative offices.  The firm envisioned the building situated in a polder northeast of Amsterdam, and near a local airport, so that the brand’s distinctive logo, upon which the building’s vaulted roof and dome is modeled, might be visible from the sky. The offices and research facilities are located in the central glass sphere, while the factory runs along the rim and features an internal raised gallery where customers may view their car being hand-assembled without disturbing the auto workers. The showroom and museum are housed in the building’s glazed core.

While certainly cutting-edge in appearance, the form of this office complex in the Dutch city of Utrecht was largely determined by site, program, and zoning policy. It is too an extraordinary reclamation story as the land was an abandoned brownfield. The developer acquired air rights from the surrounding buildings to win approval to construct an office complex of this size — 10 stories tall and with 400,000 square feet of rentable space; and those air rights partially determined its complex form. Rietveld Architects addressed the issue of the contamination by surrounding the site with continuous sheet piling underground to wall off the toxic earth and found environmental experts who planted special microbes within it to digest the poisons and render the soil harmless over time.  

The building’s eye-catching form also captures daylight. Every workstation receives natural light and enjoys views. The engineering behind the unusual design also means that the  office wings are column-free, thus enhancing the flexibiity of space and light for workers. Despite this maximized exposure to sunlight, the firm’s clever use of high-performance materials has resulted in this building being10 percent more energy efficient than the typical Dutch office building. Such an appealing and sustainable work environment makes the complex, which serves as the local headquarters for the global professional services firm Price WaterhouseCoopers, a draw for top talent.

The client for this nineteenth-century townhouse is a couple involved in the advertising world and the visual arts. When they had purchased the building, it was almost in its original state, having only once undergone an electrical upgrade and some basic modernizations some 40 years ago. They requested that Rietveld Architects preserve the charm of the structure, while making the house more accommodating to the needs and pleasures of their family, which meant first and foremost renovating major elements of the house: installing new windows and mechanical systems, including the addition of central air from the cellar to the attic; refurbishing the fireplaces; and re-engineering the load-bearing brick façade.

In addition, they asked that one of the upstairs floors be turned into a master suite, by consolidating its two bathrooms into one within the core of the building, so that the rear of the floor could be transformed into a dressing room. They also requested that the living room open onto the adjacent library on the garden side of the house by installing full-height French doors in place of the existing wall. Finally, the wife asked that a storage space be created for her couture collection in the cellar. Beyond these architectural adjustments, the firm also updated the design of the interiors to better showcase the family’s distinguished art collection and its love of color, pattern, and whimsy.

This office complex in the Hague was the first project Rietveld Architects completed as a firm in the Netherlands. Characteristic of the studio’s pragmatic, yet genial approach to urban design, the building makes double use of its site, as it literally straddles a recessed highway feeding into the city center. In addition, it creates a literal bridge between two urban areas that had been cut off from one another by the highway. Equally distinctive is the building’s design. It features a lozenge-shaped, double-height volume that serves as the entrance lobby and leads to a
second-storey glass bridge that connects the two curvilinear office buildings.

Constructing the complex required some innovative engineering. As it does not have its own foundation, the complex uses the upward pressure of the highway and its foundations as a base to sit on and counteract. Also inventive was the decision to hang the staircases from the sides of the building, so that they wouldn’t impinge on the municipal infrastructure, otherwise the buried electrical and sewer lines would have had to be relocated.

When the entertainment conglomerate and major record label decided to consolidate the various offices for its digital royalty division into one Midtown Manhattan location, it called in Rietveld Architects to research the existing office conditions and propose a new design direction. The firm suggested eliminating cubicles and other cell structures and instituting a shared workspace experience, with all of the staff situated on one floor and in a satellite office in the Meatpacking District.

Rietveld Architects also conceived the division’s logo, based on music machine interfaces to communicate the core business and relationship to the company instantly, and used it as a decorative element on the walls of the lobby and interior. Other design innovations and branding distinctions include a pass-through project space with gallery seating for presentations, open meeting rooms with writable walls for brainstorming sessions, and colorful decor to give the environment a contemporary music feel. To provide staff with personal storage space, the firm installed individual lockers, which were graphically finished with the logo design. 

After the financial crisis, there were millions of square feet of obsolete office buildings left empty. Rietveld Architects proposed repurposing these buildings into residential apartments by inserting cost-efficient prefab units, already outfitted with mechanicals, electric and plumbing, onto each floor. The firm has patented the concept.

Key to the scheme is that the units stick out of the structure, affording extra square footage for each apartment and terrace space for the one above, visually transforming the architecture from commercial to residential. A high-tech printed skin on the exterior end of each unit further serves to provide the building with a distinctive and appealing façade.

Today, most yachts are outfitted with so many landlubber conveniences that they look more like bulky cruise ships than the sleek luxury vessels of yore. So when a yacht-owning client of Rietveld Architects decided to upgrade to a new boat, he requested that the firm customize it to better suit his personal preferences and entertaining needs, but without cluttering its elegant lines from bow to stern.

To accomplish this, the firm focused on an interior design strategy that emphasized the continuity of the vessel’s horizon. The walls from the windows down were lined in either cushioned leather panels or Macuaba marble, while their upper sections were paneled in eucalyptus with a horizontal grain. Interior railings and door hardware were wrapped in moisture-resistant leather to add to the swanky ambiance.

Addressing the client’s more utilitarian needs, the firm inserted a serving station with extra refrigeration into the galley kitchen, and added refrigeration elements to the dining area to provide more entertaining options. Other bespoke adjustments included finding and adapting standard gym equipment for locations on the upper and lower decks where it could be bolted down without disrupting the boat’s operations. The shipbuilder agreed to these adjustments without believing they would enhance the vessel’s aesthetic or seaworthiness. When completed, he had to concede that they had done both.