TransPort | Paul de Ruiter Architects

TransPort is the new head office of transavia.com and Martinair in Schiphol-East. It is the first building in the Netherlands to gain LEED Platinum and BREEAM NL – Very Good certification with respect to its sustainability. The design makes clever use of sunlight and daylight, which benefits the indoor climate and saves energy. On TransPort’s southern side, slats prevent the sun from heating up the complex, leading to a substantial reduction in the building’s cooling requirement. In contrast, the northern façade is extremely transparent, in order to admit as much natural lighting as possible, which improves the quality of the working environment. The floors of the building feature an active concrete core and the roof is fitted with an exceptionally large number of solar cells – a surface of nearly 900 m². The energy produced by these solar cells, among other sources, is continuously displayed on a digital panel near the entrance, providing the building’s users and visitors with insight into its sustainability. “An excellent example for people working in construction and for higher professional and research-oriented education.” The TransPort design shows how a building can contribute to an organisation’s communication with its physical surroundings. Thanks to its rotated position, the complex opens up to the surrounding area, achieving a connection with both the core business activities of its Schiphol location and the qualities of the Amsterdamse Bos, a large park nearby. In view of the importance of daylight insolation, the designers worked to determine the complex’s ideal position in relation to the sun. An extensive volume study resulted in a streamlined building that aligns very well with the local urbanistic plan. Daylight penetrates the building from all sides and thanks to its location on the corner of an important junction, TransPort serves as a landmark in the area. The flexible layout offers different users the option of using sections of the building independently of one another. Adapting the size of the sections that are to be rented out to tenants is very simple. By giving the building a depth of 16.2 m, the designers have furthermore allowed for a wide range of operational floor plans.