European Patent Office welcomes ‘topping out’ of its new office building in The Hague
- New EPO building creates innovative working environment for the EPO's employees in The Hague
- Co-designed by renowned architects Jean Nouvel and Diederik Dam
- Sustainability and low energy consumption were among the primary requirements for the new building
- EPO President Benoît Battistelli: "The new building will provide the staff with the most advanced working environment, and is an investment in the EPO's future in the Netherlands."
Rijswijk/Munich, 27 June 2017 - The European Patent Office (EPO) today welcomed the `topping out` of its new office building in Rijswijk near The Hague. A special ceremony was attended by the construction workers and the EPO President Benoît Battistelli, Michel Bezuijen, the mayor of Rijswijk, architects Jean Nouvel and Diederik Dam, and Ton Vaags, Chairman of the Board of the construction consortium consisting of TBI subsidiary companies J.P. van Eesteren and Croonwolter&dros.
"The new building has been designed to enable the EPO to better meet the growing demand for its services. It will enable the Office to equip its staff with the most advanced tools and is an investment in the EPO's future in the Netherlands," said EPO President Benoît Battistelli. "The topping out ceremony marks a further important stage in creating a building that not only is a tribute to its setting in The Hague but also provides an ideal working environment for the EPO's multicultural community".
The new building will hold offices for around 1 750 EPO employees. It is inspired by its local surroundings and will exhibit numerous innovative features: It uses geothermal heat pumps, for example, to store heat in the ground. Solar panels will be placed on the roof and the entire building will have LED lighting. Furthermore, the space between the thermal wall and the glass exterior wall will provide natural ventilation.
The new office building will replace an existing tower constructed in 1972, which is on the same site but has suffered from natural ageing and will therefore be demolished once the new building is complete. Staff members are expected to move into the new premises during the course of 2018.
Today the EPO's Rijswijk branch with its nearly 2 700 employees, the majority of them highly-qualified engineers and scientists working as patent examiners in all fields of technology, is the largest international organisation in the Netherlands.
About the EPO
With nearly 7 000 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 42 countries, covering a market of around 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.
Media resources
Additional information relating to the EPO's new building in The Hague and a time-lapse video of construction are available at: https://www.epo.org/about-us/services-and-activities/building.html.
Contacts at the European Patent Office in Munich, Germany
Jana Mittermaier
Director External Communication
Rainer Osterwalder
Press Spokesperson
Phone: +49 89 2399 1820
Mobile: +49 163 8399527
press@epo.org