Law Office Heerenveen

This office building is the first on the business park “Sportstad Heerenveen” (Heerenveen Sportcity), so it is trendsetting.

Along the boulevard between the city of Heerenveen and the Abe Lenstra football club stadium, there is a strip development of office-buildings according to a plan made by Khandekar urban planners.

This office is the head of one of the building strips alongside the Sportsboulevard.
The entrance of our building faces the entrance of the F.C. Heerenveen Stadium.

Urban planners made some strict rules concerning the buildings architecture.
According to this we had to make a 4m high glass elevation at the ground floor with a set-back of 1m. Above that we had to design the elevation in light grey colors.
This elevation is made out of Belgian natural stone in a modernistic style.
Out of the glass plinth comes the silhouette of Lady Justice, blindfold included. The scales carry the right side elevation of the building. A powerful image along the broad boulevard.

The special functions of the program, like the entrance with a void up to the first floor, the library and the restaurant with the instruction room and garden roof (at the back) are situated behind this glass elevation.

The town of Heerenveen is located in the Frisian part of the Netherlands, which has its own language.
Doing some historical research we found an ancient Frisian law text, and this we printed on the glass panels of the silhouette.

The simple floor plans of the offices get their spatial effect out of the interaction of Lady Justice's silhouette meeting the floors and the bended walls of the rooms.

The high situated windows offer a deep penetration of daylight and together with the use of light colors and natural materials. The interior looks very transparent and bright. The rooms are very high and there is no ceiling, while the building is heated and cooled by using the concrete of the construction.

Good acoustics are guaranteed by using sound absorbing materials for the bookshelves. The stairs are made of steel with steps of ash wood and Scandinavian leather covered banisters.

Our office, 19 het atelier architects, also designed the interior.

Photograph by: Ruud Ploeg