Considered to be the most sustainable building in the entire world, Deloitte’s headquarters in Amsterdam has drawn Fahad Al Tamimi’s attention through its thorough consideration for everything from the local plant and animal life to replacing unnecessary air conditioning with an innovative system of external ventilation. Here is Fahad Al Tamimi’s overview of what the building has to offer.

1. Fahad Al Tamimi looks at
The Edge, Amsterdam
Considered to be the most sustainable building in the entire world, Deloitte’s
headquarters in Amsterdam has drawn Fahad Al Tamimi’s attention through its
thorough consideration for everything from the local plant and animal life to
replacing unnecessary air conditioning with an innovative system of external
ventilation. Here is Fahad Al Tamimi’s overview of what the building has to offer.

2. • It has been named as the world’s
most sustainable building, with a
BREEAM rating of 98.36 percent.
• One of the most interesting things
about is not necessarily its
extensive processes for eco-
friendly water and electricity
supplies, although those will
hopefully serve as inspiration for
future architects.
• Intriguingly, it features meshes on
its windows with ensure that
ventilation is all natural and that
the interior organically
communicates with the exterior,
making for a healthier and less
stressful environment for the
employees.

3. • In a terrific example of what the
architecture of the future could
look like, the building learns to
adapt to individual needs through
the use of an app that is
permanently connected to the
structure’s innovative systems.
• Things like temperature and
humidity were expected to be
integrated but the developers
went one step further and also
included smaller things that you
might not notice straight way but
will still make quite a difference in
your day-to-day life at the office.
• For example, your coffee
preference is recorded by the
facility’s machines for ease of use.

4. • The phone app goes one step
further and uses information
gleamed from your calendar to
select and prepare in advance
the kind of spaces you will require
for the day’s work.
• Some of the work areas available
for the employee to use are sitting
desks, standing desks, meeting
rooms and so on.
• For example, if you are scheduled
for a client conference the app will
book a quiet room in advance
and adjust the interior temperature
and light conditions as per your set
preferences.

5. • The Edge also employs the work
practice called ‘hot desking’
wherein there are no set desks
assigned to an individual
employee but everyone eventually
gets to meet and interact with
new people through a rotational
system.
• The number of desks is limited and
dictated by the overall utility. So,
for example, rooms specifically
built for telephone calls will not
feature one since it would be a
useless to the room’s intended
purpose.
• Interconnectivity is at the heart of
the office building, which features
flat screens that can be used with
any electronic device on your
person.

6. • The Edge is impressive in its in-
depth planning.
• The on-site gym converts the
employees’ workout into power
that is then re-used into keeping
the grid functional in some small
way.
• The surrounding vegetation was
calibrated and thought out in
accordance with feedback from
the city’s planning officials. It is, as
a result, perfectly in tune with its
surrounding ecological needs and
a helpful balancing agent in
Amsterdam’s ecosystem.

7. • The entire building is constructed
to fully embody the Dutch work
ethos of het nieuwe werken, which
translates, as you might imagine, to
the new way of working.
• It is focused on the seamless
blending of technology, human
capital and intelligent spaces to
create a holistic way of spending
work hours.
• It emphasises classical methods of
understanding sustainability and
efficiency, such as recycling as
much as possible and steering
clear of wasteful practices but, on
a revolutionary level, it is also
devoted to making the best use of
people and making the
environment work for them as
much as they work for the
environment.

8. Contact
 Feel free to follow Fahad Al Tamimi over at the official slideshare account:
http://www.slideshare.net/fahadaltamimi9
or the main website:
http://fahadaltamimi.net/