The space is large and rugged, with a fantastic view across the water that separates Zeeburg from Borneo-eiland. Momentum’s brief to us was to provide a layout that would be used partly as a workspace, and partly as a sales area for their projects in countries such as Costa Rica, Turkey, Morocco and Spain. We started with the question of how the sales area should look. People buying houses in these countries do not do so out of necessity, or even out of practical considerations; they are buying a house there because they are looking for an experience, an emotion. We wanted to create a space that reflects something of this experience; to create an impression of already being in that country. As life in these countries is lived more outdoors than in, we saw the brief not so much as for an interior, but rather for an exterior – a landscape in which the various building components can nestle.

The design is divided into two important parts: the floor and the ceiling. All new technical components to be added to the existing technology will be channelled through the ceiling. The floor will be a continuous landscape with slight differences in level, from which the walls and furniture will rise. In terms of the form, the space consists of three concentric rings: one surrounding a central square, a bar and a kitchen; around this, a ring containing information on the various projects on screens, with places to read and a projection area; then a third ring on the outside, where visitors can think, relax and take in the view.

The landscape abandons the strict division between workplace and exhibition area, thereby easily permitting changes of use. We have sought to not restrict ourselves to the use of visual elements to evoke emotions, but to enrich the experience of a far-away destination by adding the scent of the local cuisine and the sounds of the various areas, which visitors can hear when they sit down beneath one of the domes.

The space is by no means finished, but – like a landscape – it will grow.