On 8 March 2018, the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf (the Central Government Real Estate Agency) and Dura Vermeer signed the contract for the new building for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam. Now that the signing of the contract by State Secretary Knops (Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations) is a fact, Dura Vermeer has announced that it will form a building consortium for the completion of the Design, Build & Maintain project with Heijmans. Dura Vermeer remains the only contract holder for Rijksvastgoedbedrijf. The contract represents a value of €255 million euros, including a maintenance period of 20 years.
The new EMA building is being built on the Domenico Scarlattilaan in the Zuidas district, near the Amsterdam RAI station. The preliminary design by Fokke van Dijk, architect at the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, concerns an 80-metre high building with 19 floors. The total floor area is 39,000 m2 of which approximately 27,500 m2 office and 11,500 m2 meeting and conference rooms. The new EMA building will provide housing for 900 employees from 30 countries.
The building consortium is responsible for the structural implementation and building services engineering, including a maintenance period of 20 years. In addition to Heijmans, Dura Vermeer is working with MVSA Architects for the further elaboration of the preliminary design, OKRA Landschapsarchitecten for the roof garden and the grounds, Fokkema & Partners for the interior design, Van Rossum for the constructions, DWA for the building services engineering advice and DGMR for the building physics and security and fire safety. Dura Vermeer has included SDR Elektrotechniek and Van Dorp Installaties in the team for the building services engineering.
Construction of the new building must be completed by mid-November 2019. The EMA is responsible for the quality and safety of new medicines for humans and animals that are allowed on the European market. The EMA is currently based in London, but will be leaving the city due to the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union.
