Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Justice
Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Justice
Sketch Hans Kollhoff
Floor Plan
Rendering
Skyline The Haag
Facades
Brick Facade
Foyer
Foyer Interior
Foyer Interior

Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Justice

Administration Building | The Hague



The project originated from an international competition held in 2002.

The pair of towers rise up from a block that opens towards the pedestrian street called Turfmarkt with a cour d’honneur cum garden. With their 36 floors standing 150 metres tall, the ministries’ towers stand out in the urban context with pilaster-facades of brick (for the Ministry of the Interior) and granite (for the Ministry of Justice). The grey-green granite cladding of the base, made up of four-centimetre-thick sandblasted slabs, is fixed to the bearing wall via conventional stainless steel anchors with thermal insulation in between. At the corners of the ground floor, thicker slabs with an L-shaped section have been used supported by steel consoles.
This effectively emphasises the expression of stability, which is also the intention of the bushhammered plinth. The rather flat facade of the first two floors overlooks the street with wide openings and connects to the ground with a curved profile, while terminating in a fine string course. The display windows of the shop fronts are framed with brass-coloured aluminium profiles. The facade of the second to the fourth floors culminates in a high main cornice, which accentuates the building’s granite base and the common functions of the ministries. Here, the same box windows that are positioned between the pillars in the towers above are used as separate openings. The double windows allow for natural hand-adjustable ventilation throughout the building. Made with prefab the towers’ facades are articulated with pilasters that, clad in the same polished green granite of the base, break past the top edge of the wall and terminate in a crown. The joints between the elements disappear behind the overlapping panels, becoming invisible when viewed head-on.

Cut into the block, the steeply angled atrium has a main glazed front that gives onto the garden with revolving doors and brass-coloured aluminium profiles. The garden is enclosed by a granite bench that protrudes from the building’s plinth. This bench supports a fence made of ornamentally treated square posts and curved rectangular steel profiles coated with a bright anthracite colour. The tips are lacquered in gold.
Branch:Prof. Hans Kollhoff Generalplanungs GmbH
Project Manager:Alexander Pols
Client:Rijksgebouwendienst / Projectbureau Jubi
Project Address:Turfmarkt
The Hague
Netherlands
Timerange:2008 - 2012
Work Phases:All
Construction Sum: 330 Mio. €
FAR:130.000 qm (ober- und unterirdisch)
Cooperating Planners:Statiker: Zonneveld
Versorgungstechnik: Deerns
Bauphysik: DGMR
Kostenplaner: AT Osborne
Bauleitung: Brinkgroep
Bauzeichner & Berater: Inbo
Garten- & Landschaftsbau: Winz
Kunst: Per Kirkeby, Kopenhagen
Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of JusticeMinistry of the Interior and Ministry of JusticeSketch Hans KollhoffFloor PlanRenderingSkyline The HaagFacadesBrick FacadeFoyerFoyer InteriorFoyer Interior