Hello Zuidas — January-February 2018

42 • Te x t Eefje van den Akker • Photography Jelmer Jeuring • 43

ZUIDAS ARCHITECTURE

I TO Tower

Zuidas icon remains up to date

Address Gustav Mahlerplein 1-99

Architect Yoto Ito

Building owner Union Investment

Completed in 2005

Height 100 metres

Floors 25

Floor area 35,000 m2

Main user Houthoff and Accenture

ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE

distinctive transparency to the building that

ser ves to bring the outside world in. This

contrasts with the horizontal aluminium

panels setting off the windows around the

remainder of the building, thus making it

feel more enclosed. Recent renovation of

the entrance has amplified the sense of

transparency by transforming the façade into

a wall of ultra clear glass, which was meant

to give the ITO tower a more cosmopolitan

look and feel, while whilst making it more

open and accessible at the same time. These

days - where flexible working strategies

are gradually taking over and where offices

sometimes seem a luxur y we no longer need

• the refurbished lobby, with its restaurant
  and sleek reception area, is clearly designed
  to invite people in. That makes Zuidas’ most
  iconic and trend-setting building as up to
  date and future proof as ever.

FACTS

• The ITO (and the adjacent SOM tower) has
  a trove of secret gardens inside as well as
  outside. Take for example the park on the
  roof of the parking garage, which comes
  complete with trees and benches. As for
  the interior of the building: look closely and
  you’ll see glass-enclosed jungles that have
  been created at the building’s corners.


• The tower is named after Yoto Ito, its world-
  renowned Japanese architect. The ITO
  tower is one of his European creations, of
  which there are only a handful throughout
  Europe. The ITO tower is the only building
  in the Netherlands designed by him.


• At 100 metres high, the ITO tower ranks
  among the four tallest buildings in Zuidas,
  only five metres short of the WTC tower,
  ABN AMRO headquarters and Symphony
  residential tower.

Zuidas is renowned for its pioneering

architecture. As it matures into an

international quarter of Amsterdam,

buildings in Zuidas are shooting up

right and left. Amidst all these modern

skyscrapers, it may be difficult to imagine

that only around 20 years ago, this

stretch of land connecting the residential

neighbourhoods of Zuid and Buitenveldert

consisted mostly of tennis courts and

football pitches. In this series we zoom in

on the architecture of Zuidas. This time,

we take a closer look at the ITO Tower.

To anyone who is the least bit familiar with

Zuidas, the ITO tower is an iconic building,

and one that’s been around for quite a while.

Aside from being one of the tallest structures

in Zuidas, it was also among the first. The ITO

tower may look simple and straightforward

at first glance, but a closer look reveals a

wealth of interesting details. The glazed

cut-outs in the façade, for example, lend a