IBM

In 1956, the American headquarters of IBM decided to open a laboratory in the Netherlands. The company was a trendsetter in the then emerging market of applicable computer technology and wished to have that expressed in the architecture of its branches. The large-scale, integrated approach to design and technology of this project signified a breakthrough at architecten van Mourik. The interior freedom offered by the movable walls allowed the use of a double floor construction in the halls, the so-called sub-floor, and a beamed high hat, both filled with technical installations. These elements were deployed in order to lend shape to the apparently naturally floating boxes, looking out over the fields. The innovative style and quality of the interior of both the original ensemble and the programmers' building added later for example, are thanks to the far-reaching integrated approach based on the very complete assignment. The flexible wall systems designed for IBM by the architectural agency were unique in those days. Innovative elements in the later expansions were the windows with an extra exhaust pane and the integration of cables and piping in the construction and the interior package.
The design of this assignment therefore took place within a technical, innovative, international context. The wide open landscape around Uithoorn, chosen for its location close to Schiphol, was the perfect setting for this. The tour de force of the spatial composition of the first ensemble completed in 1959 is its mastery of the polder landscape. The random yet precise variegation of the flat halls and the associated garden design by Mien Ruys envelop and emphasise the landscape. The raised office volume above the main entrance, the think tank, hovers above and oversees it. These qualities were further reinforced in later expansions, whose volumes and heights were geared to the main role of the office tower. The raised, transparent connecting passageways once again let in views of the fields. The garden design, exterior, interior and details are one inextricable whole, so that the architecture is no more than an intermediary between technical possibilities, working conditions, the environment and identity. The image of the first laboratory halls is derived from a businesslike, forceful translation of a number of innovative, technical operations, combined with great attention for the working environment and orientation towards the landscape. The interior freedom offered by the movable walls allowed the use of a double floor construction in the halls, the so-called sub-floor, and a beamed high hat, both filled with technical installations. These elements were deployed in order to lend shape to the apparently naturally floating boxes, looking out over the fields. The innovative style and quality of the interior of both the original ensemble and the programmers' building added later for example, are thanks to the far-reaching integrated approach based on the very complete assignment.