Can you imagine it? Entering a building that you have watched grow from sketch to reality? After years of intensive collaboration and attention to every detail, there is nothing better than experiencing the end result in all its glory. This is why we visit buildings we have designed with our team every year. This provides an additional opportunity to see the buildings in use and experience the atmosphere. Importantly, how do the users like the building or design and what can we learn from this for future designs?

This time we visited two of our projects: the Byondis Campus in Nijmegen and the brand new headquarters of dsm-firmenich, located in the heart of Maastricht.

We started the day full of energy and left for Nijmegen, where the Byondis campus awaited us. Byondis develops drugs against cancer and autoimmune diseases. They gave us the opportunity to design the entire campus including several buildings on the campus. These buildings belong to a design family and are connected by a functionally filled, green ascending roof with roof garden.

John van Dijck and Onno Baack, our guides for the morning, took us to the first stop “the porter’s lodge”. The reception building of Byondis Campus. Besides being an attractive entrance for visitors, this is the central place where safety, health and campus maintenance is organized.

Our next stop on campus: the impressive Byondis manufacturing facility. The building is a combination of storage, laboratories and offices, all integrated into five floors, a beautiful design that completes the campus. During our tour, Aldo Vos explains how the building was completed from concept to completion in just twelve months. A true achievement!

Synthon’s Fasttrack Offices is also on campus. Upon entering, you are welcomed by a beautiful atrium, with lots of daylight and greenery. An inspiring office, where meeting is central and as many as 175 employees can work. All buildings together form a harmonious whole and the campus breathes health and well-being.

After a great lunch it was time for our next destination: dsm-firmenich in Maastricht.

Erik van Eck (architect of this new headquarters) proudly took us through this new headquarters together with Kees van Helden (client dsm-firmenich). Because how do you transform a monumental trade school (1911) and former cinema into an ultra-sustainable head office?

This building has only just been occupied, but you could already clearly see (and hear) that its users feel at home. Here, history comes alive in an ultra-modern setting. Old and new flow seamlessly together. With certifications such as WELL-platinum and Breeam Outstanding, it is a wonderful example of how sustainability and heritage can go hand in hand.

We also like to be inspired by other architects. Therefore, we ended the day with a city walk past other iconic buildings, such as the famous ‘Boekhandel Dominicanen’ (often described as the most beautiful bookstore in the world!).

Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner – the perfect ending to a successful day. Looking back on an inspiring day, we headed back to Rotterdam by train.

Are you curious about the transformation of dsm-firmenich headquarters? Listen to our latest podcast episode here.