Marble cladding and integrated onyx lighting by SolidNature have created a dramatic series of public spaces for a high-end office block on the edge of Amsterdam’s financial district.
Despite its prominent address at Locatellicade 1, Parnassus Tower proved difficult to find as it was set back from the main road and its entrance was obstructed by another office block.
Owner and developer Thodev reconfigured the ground floor of the 1970s tower, inserting an additional floor with a new
entrance lobby and a smart meeting area that links to the basement floor below via a broad, stone-clad stairway screened in glass and a mezzanine level above via an elegant spiral staircase.
Local interior designer Joost Mulders from Open architects + planners was commissioned to create an sophisticated scheme that visually connects the different floors with a subtle design that links this additional floor with the basement and mezzanine levels.
He opted to clad the floor of the new lobby and the ceiling of the basement floor in marble to create the illusion of a single, massive block of stone. The same marble cladding was applied to the columns, staircase and walls to unify the spaces, a bold choice as it’s rare to use natural stone on such a huge scale in the Netherlands. Vertical integrated lighting would also consolidate the design and draw visitors to the elevators and the elegant spiral staircase that led to nthe upper floor.
When Mulders visited the SolidNature showroom, he was shown a selection of marbles for the natural stone cladding. The spaces didn’t have the scale to carry marble with dramatic veining, so he opted for Cream Vanian marble which has a soft, creamy hue with subtle white veins.
Marble tiles are normally 20mm thick, but the total weight would be too much for the new floor, particularly for the ceiling of the basement, so SolidNature calibrated lightweight tiles that were only 5mm thick, securing them with extra-strong honeycombed backing. Mulders also specified an hourglassshaped repeat pattern for the floor tiles at the entrances of all the different levels as well as the meeting areas and corridors to create a playful sense of rhythm.
When he was shown the translucent properties of onyx, he decided to replace light fittings with strips of Snow Blossom onyx. “The stone itself became the lighting element, and with no visible wires, it created a very clean design,” he says. “I added a brass strip to animate the stone and add interest.”
When the designs and the stones had been approved, both the client and the designer were invited backn to the SolidNature showroom. “They had re-created a section of wall with the onyx lighting strips,” says Mulders. “The ‘dry lay’ was a complete surprise, and really helped the client to understand the final effect. Making such a big decision with just a couple of small samples is very abstract. This extra service is brilliant.”
The developer Thodev was thrilled with the final outcome – a smart and unique set of natural stone-cladn public spaces for the tower.
