G-Star RAW is a Dutch denim manufacturer known for its distinctively rough, "tough" designs with explicit military uniforms. For OMA, cooperation with him was an opportunity to highlight those qualities that the workshop was difficult to be proud of in a different situation, first of all - the rudeness, which Rem Koolhaas considers as a very Dutch trait.
In the project, this rudeness manifested itself not only in the industrial appearance of the building (the sample proposed by the customer - an aircraft hangar - was fully supported by the architects), but also in relation to the "branding". AMO, the research arm of OMA, has developed a corporate identity for different clients on several occasions, but here the G-Star RAW brand has unexpectedly direct architectural expression.
The building stretched along the A10 highway is made as long as possible - 140 m - so that the following motorists drive along it for as long as possible and have time to see both a large signboard located in a prominent place and a cantilever with show rooms that serves for advertising. So the building was deliberately turned into an analogue of billboards and shopping centers placed along the roads - quite in the spirit of Robert Venturi's "decorated sheds". “We have never been so vulgar,” Koolhaas commented on his project.
A black concrete cladding hides offices, parking and technical areas. In the center is the glass "creative core" where the designers work. The two- and three-height studios are located on the floor platforms shifted relative to each other, and the light coming through the glazed north - main - facade is optimal for working with dark fabrics that form the basis of the company's collections.
This glass façade actually consists of a series of custom-made 20-meter doors by a hangar manufacturer, so you can open the RAW Space behind it, a 4-storey multi-purpose space, to the outside if you wish. This room, like the terraces of the "stylobate" on which the building rests (it raises it up to highway level), can be used for performances, fashion shows, celebrations, etc.
