Plus Ultra Utrecht

Plus Ultra is a multi-tenant building with laboratories, offices and shared facilities such as meeting rooms. With its timber-slat façades and striking angular rotations, it stands out at Utrecht Science Park. Distinctive interior features such as balustrades and skybridges, a tall white spiral staircase and a large suspended artwork create a dynamic environment without causing visual clutter. Plus Ultra is a concept by Kadans Science Partner; cepezed previously designed Plus Ultra buildings in Leiden and Amsterdam.

client(s)
Kadans science partner

location
Utrecht Science Park

user(s)
start-ups, scale ups

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expertise
architects
cepezed interior

Two volumes

The angles required by the shape of the plot give Plus Ultra Utrecht a character all of its own. The building consists of two volumes: a tower rests on top of a wedge-shaped, low block with an atrium. The building has twelve floors in total. Almost all shared facilities are located on the ground floor. Because these facilities are partly public, a lot of glass has been used here. This glass plinth ensures that the exhibitions in the science gallery are clearly visible from the outside. The tower also has a glass plinth. This accentuates the volume division and provides a beautiful view on a lush roof garden.

life sciences

Plus Ultra is designed for start-ups and scale-ups in the life sciences sector. Early-stage companies occupy the low-rise, while scale-ups use the tower. Galleries and bridges in the atrium connect the offices, shared laboratories and meeting spaces. The generous, light-filled atrium forms the heart of the building and extends to a terrace on the south façade: it is the central meeting place. This applies to Plus Ultra’s tenants as well as external visitors, as the restaurant adjoining the atrium is open to the public. Abundant planting, careful detailing, a setback with roof garden on the fifth floor and panoramic views make Plus Ultra Utrecht a particularly pleasant environment.

sustainable façade

The timber-slat cladding unifies the design and creates atmosphere. The linear rhythm ties the tower to the low-rise, and exterior to interior, where the timber detailing continues. The slats even extend beneath the long, narrow canopies above the glazed façades, which are clad with photovoltaic panels. Kadans and cepezed share high sustainability ambitions: Plus Ultra Utrecht received a BREEAM Outstanding design certificate and meets WELL Platinum standards. The building features a demountable steel-and-timber structure, an underground thermal energy storage system and additional PV panels on the roofs.

science blue

The façade slats continue inside in the same timber species. cepezedinterieur applied its modular furniture elements, previously designed for Kadans. The wooden finishing, the wooden floor and the white steel of structural elements and the spiral staircase are complemented in the atrium with colour accents in shades of green and blue. Together with the extensive planting, this composition brings calm, ensuring that the spiral staircase—an elegant element connecting the ground floor with the galleries and walkways above—stands out all the more.

radiolarian

Next to the staircase, the suspended artwork immediately catches the eye. It is an enlarged radiolarian, or plankton. Artist Vincent Mock uses this magnification to evoke wonder for nature while emphasising our profound responsibility towards it. This aligns seamlessly with the sustainability ambition and function of Plus Ultra. In the ground-floor Science Gallery, a microscope allows visitors to view the actual 0.1-millimetre organism.

partners

Client: Kadans Science Partner
Main Contractor: Goossen Te Pas
Mechanical engineering: Instaan
Electrical engineering: JWR
Building surfaces: Deerns
Landscape design: MTD landschapsarchitecten
Structural engineering: Adviesbureau Tielemans

contact
→ Mail bd@cepezed.nl or call our business development team on +31 (0)15 2150000

Plus Ultra Utrecht