KPN Telecom, Amsterdam

Thick telephone cables enter the exchange underground, then branch off into millions of thin wires that make a never-ending series of new connections. It is an invisible and secretive process, only reinforced by the fact that the exchange is unmanned, with only three people on location to carry out occasional maintenance work. Certain demands made by climate and safety called for a relatively enclosed, protective casing to the building. We chose to use horizontal cellular concrete slabs with narrow panels of light to encase the exchange. The light panels are filled with sheets of transparent, coloured plastic. A second skin is created by placing aluminium sheet piling on the concrete slabs at regular intervals. These vertical piling sections are in turn fixed with semi-transparent sections of glass from top to bottom. This use of layers of vertical, semi-transparent sections that allow the horizontal, coloured slabs to shine through, endow the whole building with the sense of mystery of the circuitry going on inside.


Architect: Herman Zeinstra
Team: A. Mashiach, C. Gafner, I. Vogels
Number: 9918
Status: Built
Year: 1999 - 2001
Client: KPN Vastgoed, Den Haag

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KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  reflection
Filtered light
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  interior
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  vista
Island
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  the one and only
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  developing on an island
Amsterdam
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  1st building of IJburg
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  KPN building IJburg

The use of layers of vertical, semi-transparent sections that allow the horizontal, coloured slabs to shine through, endow the whole building with the sense of mystery of the circuitry going on inside.

KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  narrow strips of colour and light
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam
Download PDF
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  abstraction
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  narrow stripes of color and light
Concrete
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  cloud reflection
Herman Zeinstra Herman Zeinstra
Architect
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  coloured interior
Light
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  telephone cables
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam
Sturdy
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  1st building of IJburg
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  Translucent facade
North-Holland
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  under construction
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam  –  layered facade
Utility
KPN Telecom, Amsterdam