Amsterdam is known for bicycles, canals, gorgeous historic buildings, cheese, fries with mayonnaise, beer, coffee shops & its red light district…
My last day took a bit of a departure from that list… with a rather modern edge!
It started with a delightful breakfast catch-up at a café in Oosterpark followed by a ride on the back of a bicycle to the metro. (pretty standard stuff so far)
And then?
Why naturally hop over to Amsterdam Zuid for lunch in the business district! Isn’t that everyone’s top destination?
Huh?
Far from the typical grand historic buildings of Amsterdam Centraal, Zuid is the universe of office towers like ABN, World Trade Centre… which to my Asian eyes all seem oddly stunted and small when your measuring stick is Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo!
The highlight was checking out the spanking new THE EDGE which boasts being the world’s most innovative and sustainable office building. And I gotta admit, it is deceptively impressive. Unassuming from the exterior, the features and feel is what makes it remarkable.
So what is it like inside? Cus naturally I got the full tour! We first went up… to look 15 floors down the atrium where there is a cheerful café below… and lovely lounge space above…
The view of the sky from the roof was spectacular… I was ‘ahem’ encouraged to lean on the gravity defying glass at the top but declined. 😉
Nope! I’m not gonna lean against the angled glass barrier…
So much is controlled by applications from your smart phone or tablet:
- Wanna book a room? Just wave your phone in front of the bar code and select
- Room to hot? cold? bright? dark? Tap tap and adjust to your preference
- Need to project your presentation… tap tap without any wires…
- Phone battery low, just set it on the table and it will recharge – again without any wires…
- Need a locker for your bike helmet and stuff? No keys or codes required here – just select and secure with your phone and as you come back, your locker door will sense your arrival and automatically pop open
- Can’t find your colleague? Tap tap to find out where s/he is in the building (ooh big brother time!)
Everything is designed to not just be ‘state of the art’ but also resource ‘smart’ so that real-time utilisation links to how much heating / cooling and even cleaning different parts of the building require.
Natural light from the south side minimises the need for artificial lighting during the day. Solar panels on the north side of the building charge all laptops, phones, etc. Whereas more solar panels on the roof meet the requirements to heat, cool and light the building. Rainwater is used to flush toilets and water plants.
I didn’t check out the gym but apparently as you exercise, you help power the building too. Naturally public transportation is encouraged with a large board at the entrance providing the latest options and times. There are also plenty of spots for bicycle parking and none nearby for cars. Typical for Amsterdam, there are recycling bins everywhere too.
Green is good… red is naughty!
The place is so new that many floors are still getting ready for occupancy. and all around the building are signs of construction and change.
The view is very much that of ‘new’ rather than ‘old’ Amsterdam… what was remarkable for me is how empty the roads are of traffic!
What a fascinating opportunity to explore what could potentially be the future of office buildings which are wireless, adaptable, sustainable and apparently even carbon negative in terms of their impact on the environment.
Living in polluted Mumbai where it seems all building construction is mired in dangerous short-cuts, corruption and disregard for the environment and people, it is easy to become cynical. So all the more reason to be impressed by initiatives like The Edge that attempts to make a positive difference.
Anyone else find such a ‘tour’ interesting? Or am I the only weirdo out there that finds such things worth seeing and wish in my lifetime to see such structures in my adopted home India?
More info? Check out:
- The Edge (official website)
- Deloitte’s new Amsterdam HQ has connected, sensor-packed LED lighting
- The Edge | PlusOne Amsterdam
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Everyday Asia 
I love the concept of having humans generate power for the building in the gym 😉
Had a vision of some poor sucker peddling away on a bicycle with a trainer overhead pushing saying “Come on buddy, don’t stop! We need more power! Push it! Keep those lights on! Go Go Go!!
…do I hear a whip cracking…??
Well… we don’t want the lights to go out now then do we? 😉
Going through any European city it feels like that all the big buildings are kind of stunted compared to North American and Asian monstrosities 🙂
Too true! 🙂 And the streets are empty of vehicles and traffic of all kind (including goats!)… It always seems like there are hardly any people too!
That is so cool! 🙂
It actually is quite something. It takes a while to sink in just how cool… I’m finding the more I describe it to others, the more I realise how remarkable it is. 🙂
It really is! Some day I guess all buildings will be like that – amazing!
One can always dream! I wonder if the next generation will look back on our polluting ways, shaking their heads and wondering how we could be so oblivious to the harm being done…
Probably!
Really interesting. It’s amazing that when you think you’ve seen everything in a city there’s still plenty out there that you haven’t seen. Need to add Amsterdam to my ‘places to revisit’ list.
Yup! In my case, I was returning to Holland after 14 years!
I also would not have leaned on that glass, nope no way! Happy to see something Dutch on your blog though :).
Yeah… even looking over was a bit nerve wracking! Can’t imagine leaning back! 🙂
And yes – going to Holland was a departure from my usual travels so extra special!
This place is way too high-tech for me. I feel a panic attack just thinking of all this semi-intuitive technology!
Haha! It isn’t actually intimidating however is rather creepy that you can be ‘found’ anywhere!