Council office

Developer: NS Poort
Architect: Dirk Jan Postel of the Rotterdam architectural firm Kraaijvanger.Urbis with Christian Müller
Status: Definitive design
Floor space: 65,000 m2
Number of jobs: 2,500
Building height: 70-90 m
Number of bicycle parking places: 2,200
Number of parking places: 270
 

For the Utrecht population the council office will be the central point where they can go for nearly all municipal services and products. The building will be located on the west side of the station at the present Mineurslaan, next to the station entrance of the Jaarbeurs square. One of the two new main entrances of the station will be at the completely new Station Square West. The council office in the Station area will make the council more visible, easier to find and easier to reach.

The building will be developed by NS Poort and will have a surface of approximately 64,000 m2. With a height of 70-90 metres this will be the tallest and one of the largest council offices in the Netherlands. It will accommodate eleven municipal services, which are currently divided over various locations in the city. The intention is that collaboration between the municipal services is improved as a result of working in one building. There will be 2,500 workplaces in the new building. Since part of the staff work part-time, that should be sufficient for a total of some 3,000 employees.

On this side of the station, NS Poort is developing a total of approximately 150,000 m2 of office space, where some 5,000 to 8,000 people will be working.

Which services will be housed in the Council office?
As mentioned earlier, eleven municipal services will be working in the building, namely: Civil Affairs & Municipal Tax Department, Social Development Department, City Development, Districts Department (partially), Municipal Works Department (partially), Municipal Health Authorities (GG&GD), Support Department, Administrative and Concern Department, Leidsche Rijn Project Bureau and Station Area Project Organisation. The Municipal Executive will also move to the new council office.

Which counters will there be in the Council office?
The following counters will be providing their services in the public space: Civil Affairs, Naturalisation Bureau, Enterprise Shop, Tenders Bureau, Outdoors Bureau, Archaeology, Cultural Affairs, Education, Sports Accommodations, Municipal Taxes, Geo Information and Cartography, Station Area Information Centre, Utrecht Information Centre, Engineering Bureau, Credit Bank, Parking Services, Public Desk City Development Department, Social Affairs, Lending desk Nature and Environment Education and Social Support Act. The district bureaus and district service centres will remain at their decentralised locations in the districts.

Who designed the building?
The architects Dirk Jan Postel of the Rotterdam architectural firm Kraaijvanger.Urbis and Christian Müller, are the designers of the new Council office in the station area. The council of Utrecht will be using the office for a period of at least 25 years. The building will to a large extent be geared to the wishes of the council and will be realised under the authority of NS Poort. Kraaijvanger.Urbis is known among other things for the Council office in Den Bosch and the new head-office of Rabobank Netherlands in Utrecht. In 2006, Kraaijvanger.Urbis won the European selection procedure in which six renowned firms took part.

The designers proved to be very capable of linking the public space in the Council office to the Station square as well as to the future centre boulevard, which will run across the tracks along the new station hall. The Council office will thus enhance the effect of the public spaces, while a logical transition is created of public space to the public hall of the Council office. The designers also proved to be quite capable of placing various kinds of workplaces in the building, with the focus being on the meeting of municipal staff members. For the Utrecht council the possibility to meet is a key element in the program of demands. Such challenges contribute to the speed and quality of the solutions that the council offers for the city’s problems.

When will the building be finished?
Completion is planned for 2013. Subsequently, some more months will be needed for furnishing the building.