Project Name: Booking.com City Campus

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Design Team: UNStudio

Total Floor Area: 72,500 m²

Completion: 2023

Photography: Hufton+Crow, Matthijs van Roon, Ewout Huibers, Maarten Willemstein

Design Features:

Project - Booking.com City Campus in Amsterdam's Oosterdokseiland, designed by UNStudio, stands as an innovative expression of redefining workplace space as a healthy community. This 72,500-square-meter headquarters brings together 6,500 employees under one roof for the first time, serving as a crucial tool for attracting and retaining top talent through its reflection of the company's leading position in the global tech industry. The design transforms the building into a vibrant urban neighborhood, inviting employees to work, move, and connect in an open, transparent, and interconnected environment.

The project's most compelling design achievement lies in its innovative concept of balancing ultra-high density with transparency. Rising from a compact 6,000-square-meter footprint, the building achieves an extraordinary floor area ratio exceeding 12, yet maintains transparency and lightness through its fully glazed facade. Floor-to-ceiling glass panels measuring 2.4 by 3.6 meters flood expansive floorplates of over 6,000 square meters per level with natural light, while ingeniously folded ceilings at the facade edges amplify daylight penetration deep into the interior. Triple glazing ensures energy efficiency and comfort. The transparent design not only connects interior spaces to the outdoors but also showcases the building's activity to the city, creating a dynamic and engaging urban presence.

The architectural narrative unfolds through sophisticated spatial hierarchy, following the design approach of "encouraging movement and serendipitous encounters." The space centers on stairs, bridges, and galleries threading through all levels, extending to rooftop connections, forming an engaging social and physical environment. Emergency staircases serve as atypical design features, glazed along the atrium side, not only encouraging daily use but also offering luminous views and visual connections to other spaces in the building. This vertical composition creates dynamic atmospheric experience while maintaining spatial functionality and sociality. The integration of stairs, bridges, and galleries creates movement scenarios radiating from inside out, echoing Amsterdam's layered neighborhood fabric.

Material selection demonstrates contemporary design refinement and sustainability commitment. Underfloor air distribution provides fresh air in close proximity to users, while radiant ceilings enable comfortable heating and cooling. Special attention has been given to acoustics in both office spaces and atria, while generous daylight throughout the building combined with high-quality artificial light with very low glare enhances visual comfort. Products from Hunter Douglas Architectural (Europe), including solid wood grill ceilings and walls, and veneered wood ceiling and wall panels, add warm textures to the spaces. The project is state-of-the-art in terms of all sustainable solutions, achieving BREEAM Excellent design certification, and incorporating a connected building management system to enable a frictionless space for all employees and operations staff.

The facade treatment demonstrates intimate relationship between industrial history and refined details. Glass detailing in the fully glazed facade reduces the overall immenseness of the building and gently reflects the glistening of water and sky. The design combines the robust qualities and industrial history of the harbor while showcasing characteristics of the Dutch travel company's homebase since its inception through carefully designed details. 1,500 photovoltaic panels generate sustainable energy, reducing the building's environmental impact.

The project's defining feature is its orchestrated 28 themed breakout spaces and social value. These communal areas are spread throughout the campus for employee use, featuring unique destination-themed spaces including service points, restaurants, and breakout spaces with pantries. The design concept of these micro holiday destination breakout spaces reflects Booking.com's core business. The flexible and generous design of work floors also enables the creation of numerous different working and meeting spaces. The variety of these meeting spaces and amenities gives employees freedom of choice to "design their day" for a healthy and productive work life.

Design Team - UNStudio, founded in Amsterdam in 1988 by Ben van Berkel, has established itself as a pioneer in international architecture and design consultancy. Over 35 years of practice, this Amsterdam-based firm has evolved from a singular vision into a global network of over 400 professionals across seven offices in Amsterdam, Austin, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Shanghai.

Under the creative direction of founder and principal architect Ben van Berkel, UNStudio operates as a multidisciplinary practice integrating architecture, urban planning, interior design, and product development. The firm's methodology transcends traditional architectural boundaries, employing behavioral research and technological innovation to uncover latent opportunities within each project brief. This approach positions UNStudio as masters of the unseen, delivering design solutions that address social, psychological, and environmental needs simultaneously.

The firm's design philosophy centers on creating socially, sustainably, and ethically responsible environments while maintaining acute awareness of economic constraints and commercial viability. Their design methodology emphasizes cultivating "creative friction," a collaborative approach where diverse expertise converges to generate innovative solutions for contemporary societal challenges. The studio's commitment to integrating technology with human creativity, along with deep research that transcends cosmetic innovation, manifests in every design concept.

Notable achievements include landmark projects honored with the German Design Award 2025 for Excellent Architecture Conceptual Architecture (Hiwell Amber Centre), Dezeen Awards China 2024 for Retail Interior of the Year Award (Huawei TKL Flagship Store), CTBUH Innovation Award of Excellence (Hanwha Facade Remodelling), DGNB German Sustainable Building Council Diamond Award (Eclipse Dusseldorf), Prêmio Master Imobiliário 2024 Residential Development category (EZ Parque da Cidade), International Architecture Awards 2024 The Chicago Athenaeum Bridges and Infrastructure (Chamartin Station), Fast Company Innovation Design Awards Honorable Mention (Booking.com City Campus), and Designverse Awards Jury Grand Prize (FlySolo Rehabilitation Medical Centre).

UNStudio has established new paradigms in global architectural design through a diverse portfolio spanning urban infrastructure, transportation hubs, commercial complexes, residential developments, and mixed-use projects, demonstrating consistent commitment to innovation, sustainability, human-centered design, and technological integration. The studio's experienced architect teams and project management teams dedicate themselves to providing complete and excellent service throughout the entire project process, with each project supervised and managed by founder and principal architect Ben van Berkel, aiming not only to meet client needs but to exceed expectations, contributing to a greener, healthier, and smarter built environment.