The Provincial Government of Noord-Holland is located in two adjacent buildings, right at the perimeter of Haarlem's beautiful city centre. The politicians, governors and local parliament are housed in a listed 18th century palace, while almost 1000 civil servants work in a large office building.

The commission was to completely renovate the interior and to enhance the quality of the latter building, notably its performance as a green building. This argument was sufficient for a complete make over.The square plan required a conceptual intervention: Crucial for the design of the interior of a modern office and within the concept of 'activity based working', were the logistics. In order to avoid long corridors the entrance area is relocated towards the middle of the building. The result is the circular drum-like extension that is linking all 4 wings.

The outer envelope is adapted to the urban context, with an open plinth, brick cladding and a well articulated mass with the suggestion of a much smaller, local scale than the previous building.

The emphasis on high sustainability has proved to be a success, keeping the existing structure saved a lot of energy and material, while the performance of the building is in no way less than any new office. A GPR-score of 9,6 (out of 10) is comparable with Breeam excellent. In labels, the building went from G to A++, only using a fraction of the energy it needed previously.