WAM Architecten’s Offices by WAM
Today’s office comes from the Netherlands and is both for and designed by WAM Architecten. Here’s their write-up:
“The space has undergone a transformation to make it more functional as an architectural studio. The entrance is remarkable: a mastaba-shaped passageway that is completely clad with lengths of sheep’s wool and is set in a new, wall-to-wall glazed facade. In the studio to the rear there is another wool-covered mastaba, accommodating various back-office functions. The design has come about in cooperation with Foppe van Meer and CHNL architecten.
The studio’s interior is a combination of off-the-peg products, by Moooi, Vitra and Miller, and custom-made design. In the conference room stands a spacious, oval conference table, designed by Sarah Trenité of Haarlem- based ARP Design. Large dishes of blue glass, designed by Wilfried van Winden and realised by the artist Bernard Heesen, hover above it.
On the wall there are two works of art from the ‘Cosmopolitan Chicken Project’ series by the Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen. The studio can be subdivided using free-standing, mobile acoustic cabinets, a design by Foppe van Meer.
WAM architecten commissioned the well-known Dutch visual artist/designer Frank Bruggeman to design a remarkable bookcase that occupies a prominent place in the bureau’s office. The WAM library is a perpetual source of inspiration and therefore stands at the heart of the office.
The library is an ensemble of three cases, each built up from a modular stack of separate elements on a wooden pallet. The bookcases can be moved with ease using a pallet jack. This flexible concept is in keeping with the bureau’s design and layout: nothing is permanent. Bruggeman has for many years been using the same shade of bright blue. Wilfried van Winden also acquired a work of art by Bruggeman comprised of majestically stacked vases for the new office.”
