The Curve: Like a glass funnel on an ocean liner

Designer Ed Veenendaal and architect Oever Zaaijer have created a building that looks like the funnel of an ocean liner. The metal construction specialist Octatube was responsible for implementing the challenging structural glazing façade: sloping triple panes up to five metres long, each with a unique shape and some weighing more than a tonne. The solar control glass ipasol neutral 50/27 with additional iplus E thermal insulation coating ensures a light-flooded interior, excellent protection from the summer heat and effective thermal insulation.

The site of the old docks is today a colourful creative centre – artists, designers and business start-ups have settled here. The old warehouses are filled with a labyrinth of containers sheltering offices and studios. The first new office buildings have risen on the large open spaces – MTV, Red Bull and now "The Curve". Due to the good location, the building is even visible from the centre of Amsterdam.



Challenging glazed façade construction



The asymmetrical elliptical floor plan of the ground floor of "The Curve" is 54 metres long and 26 metres wide. Vertically, the building forms a slightly twisted ellipse, giving the walls up to a height of 26 metres the form of a tilted cone. The main frame consists of reinforced concrete floors and diagonal concrete pillars as well as steel tubes that run along the glass front. The floor-to-ceiling glass panels, some of which weigh more than a tonne, are mounted on stainless steel fixtures, point-fitted and held with clamping plates. The construction of the triple glazing is a complex affair: the inner and outer panes are laminated safety glass, the middle pane is monolithic. The coatings guarantee an optimal interior climate: highly functional ipasol neutral 50/27 from Interpane on the exterior ensures effective protection from the heat of the summer. A further iplus thermal insulation coating on the central pane (position 4) and argon between the panes prevent excessive cooling in the winter. The result is colour-neutral transparency, relatively high daylight transmission, with a low solar factor. On cold days the excellent U_g value of 0.6 W/(m²K) (according to EN 673) ensures effective thermal insulation. The energy needed for heating, cooling and lighting is minimized – lowering costs and protecting the environment.

Credits Board

The Curve, Amsterdam

Object address: T.T. Vasumweg 58, 1033 SC Amsterdam 

Building owner: Kroonenberg Groep

Architect: Oever Zaaijer + Veenendaal Architecten

Façade construction: Octatube

Glass products: ipasol neutral 50/27, iplus E 

Glass processor: Interpane Plattling

[12-09 The Curve]

The ipasol neutral 50/27 solar control glass panes, some of which are five metres long and weigh over a tonne, ensure solar control, thermal insulation and lots of daylight.

Photo: Jaap-Willem Kleijwegt