User:Informatiky/Zandkasteel

Het Zandkasteel is a landmark building in the Amsterdamse Poort district of Amsterdam-Zuidoost. It stands on Bijlmerplein, enclosed by Bijlmerdreef, Anton de Komplein, Hoogoorddreef and Foppingadreef. For a long time, it served as ING's headquarters. Since 2017, it has been recognised as a municipal monument. Since 2023, it has been in use as a school building by the Amsterdam International Community School and apartment complex.

History
The building was built in the 1980s to a design by Architectenbureau Alberts and Van Huut (Ton Alberts and Max van Huut). The client was the Nederlandsche Middenstandsbank (NMB), later merged into the ING Group, for which the office on Parnassusweg in Amsterdam-Zuid was becoming too small. The staff had a say in the layout. After completion, the building was furnished with relatively small office spaces.

With the changing requirements for an office building and the change to a more flexible way of working, in which ING wanted to collaborate with technology companies, it was decided to create an office complex. The area from the Acanthus building to the Frankemaheerd was designated for this purpose. A new building, Cedar, was built on the site of the former KBB Group.

Before plans for large-scale renovations could be made, the Amsterdam branch of the Erfgoedvereniging Heemschut had asked the city council to designate the building as a municipal monument; the first in the district Zuidoost. On September 26, 2017, the building was designated a monument. On January 7, 2020, the new ING headquarters opened and the company officially moved to its new location.