The Project

The recently completed 21 storey UNStudio Tower forms part of the Mahler 4 urban complex, a cluster of six buildings located in the heart of the South Axis in Amsterdam. The South Axis connects Schiphol Airport to the major business areas of Amsterdam South. At a height of 82.5 meters, the UNStudio Tower contains 20 floors of office space and a ground floor with mezzanine. The Royal Bank of Scotland currently occupies 9 floors of the building and the South entrance with commercial space on the Gustav Mahlerlaan. The façade of the UNStudio Tower plays with the juxtaposition of a horizontal and vertical articulation, conceptually relating to the principles upon which the moiré effect is based. The horizontal articulation ensures the correct balance of sun screening and light penetration into the interior whereas the vertical accents are formed by voids which serve to create an inside-outside relationship which extends the façade envelope and turns the surface of the tower into an active medium with a profound effect on the quality of the interior user space. (8) Ben van Berkel, the founder of UNStudio, talks about the design process by saying “In the design for the tower it was important for us to create a connection between the façade and the interior spaces; to see the building as whole, almost like a piece of furniture.”(9)

The Architect

The architects at UNStudio aspires to improve the quality of daylight in its buildings as well as their users’ well-being. A study was carried out in there firm when tackling the issue of sustainability. They created six projects which materialise UNStudios ethos of future-proofing the future, specifically with regard to daylight and sustainability and one of the six included the UNStudio Tower in their hometown of Amsterdam. UNStudio sees sustainable design as an integral aspect of contemporary architecture. Sustainable solutions such as daylight systems are not treated as add-ons, but related to each and every building element.

Buildings with optimal daylight design attain high energy performance not only by receiving as much daylight as possible but also by controlling the brightness of surfaces within users’ fields of vision(10). By having an architectural sustainability platform which engages in all UNStudios projects from the early phases of the project it ensures that the correct choices are made and that the of­ ce’s high sustainable standards remain an integral part of the design process. (11)

The Location

This building Is located just south of The Netherlands capital, Amsterdam. Amsterdam-Zuid is a borough that was formed in 2010 as a merger of the former boroughs Oud-Zuid and Zuideramstel. The borough has almost 138,000 inhabitants. With 8,500 homes per square kilometre, it is one of the most densely populated boroughs of Amsterdam (12). Being located 52.3676° N, 4.9041° E of the equator, the climate in Amsterdam is very similar to the climate here in Dublin. During the summer months and particularly a month before and after the summer solstice (June 21st) , there is over 16 hours of daylight, with the sun rising at 3:20am and setting at 20:53pm on June 21st, meaning for the month of May till July there is considerable more daylight then there is night time so why would one not try use it to there advantage? Of course this changes dramatically in the winter time during the months of November to January where there is only around 7 hours of daylight with the sun rising and setting at 7:56am and 3:50pm on the winter solstice of December 21st. With the dramatic changes in daylight hours in this location, it is essential that the architects get the right balance with daylight design. Being a densely populated area that the building is situated in, achieving height in the design is very beneficial and it helps the building get all the natural daylight that it possibly could. 

Daylight Critique

At UNStudio, their project approach is always site and climate-specific while keeping in mind building typology and location. With the UNStudio tower, there are two main concepts that shape the building. Firstly, voids are forming a vertical accent and connecting the inside with the outside. Secondly, horizontal articulation is provided by white, aluminium bands which wrap the tower. The voids create an inside-outside relationship which extends the façade envelope and turns the surface of the tower into an active medium with a profound effect on the quality of the interior user space. The white aluminium bands differ in size, depth and transparency ensure the correct balance of sun screening, light penetration to the interiors and facilitate the daylight via redirection devices to the ceiling to ensure deeper light penetration(9). These two concepts of using horizontal and vertical accents allow for all of the zones in the buildings to get to experience natural light throught daylight hours. Voids are often placed at the center of a building, but here they took a different approach and are placed at the perimeters. This has three major advantages:
• The voids are easily transformed into (internal and external) balconies
• The usable floor space is larger and can be planned more flexibly. The depth of the floors further ensures a high façade to gross floor ratio, whilst the building as whole has a 90% net to gross ratio.
• The quality of the void spaces is affected by their location. Instead of public circulation space, these voids offer space for small meetings or personal reflection.(8)

The materials that were used in the building all affect the daylight design in a positive way as well as attaining sustainability. The use of high quality durable materials means that there is a reduction of replacement frequency. High quality materials and detail such as thermal glazing on the windows allows for sufficient daylight, whilst reducing direct sunlight. An interesting choice of colour is used in the glass panels that are incorporated into the vertical voids, offering different identities and light qualities to the communal spaces which surround each void in the interior.(13)

As mentioned earlier, the quality of the void space is affected by their location. The strategic placement of openings and windows allow views to be created. Openings are not just sources of light and if a view can be created from such, it is hugely beneficial particularly in an office space where a view to the outside world can benefit the person in multiple ways. 

We know how important daylight and natural light is to ones health, and it is even more essential in the typology of this building. Having most of its primary function being used as office space, to be able to say that one will have a safe environment to work in here, it has to include having sufficient daylight for the employees. 

Photographs from Reference 14

8.        UNStudio Tower UNStudio. [cited 2020 Oct 24]; Available from: https://www.world-architects.com/en/unstudio-amsterdam/project/unstudio-tower

9.        UNStudio tower complete [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 24]. Available from: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/unstudio-tower-complete/

10.      Study: Daylight in UNStudio Architecture - UNStudio [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 24]. Available from: https://www.unstudio.com/en/page/8821/study-daylight-in-unstudio-architecture

11.      UNStudio An international architectural design studio | WFM Media. [cited 2020 Oct 24]; Available from: https://wfmmedia.com/daylight-architectureben-van-berkel-architectural-sustainability-platform/

12.      Amsterdam Zuid - What to do in Amsterdam Zuid? - Holland.com [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 26]. Available from: https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/amsterdam/amsterdam-zuid-3.htm

13.      UNStudio Tower by UNStudio | Dezeen [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 26]. Available from: https://www.dezeen.com/2010/09/22/unstudio-tower-by-unstudio/

14.      UNStudio Tower - UNStudio [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 26]. Available from: https://www.unstudio.com/en/page/12005/unstudio-tower