A building typical of its time with a powerful, almost stately appearance. The school has a walled front garden that serves as a playground and a buffer between the street and the classrooms. Various works of sculpture are incorporated into the facades. (Gerritse)

‘The Building Centre is a centre of expertise and exhibitions that showcases innovation in the construction sector in a revolutionary manner. It is one of the biggest architectural ensembles in the centre of Rotterdam. The exterior wall features a unique brickwork relief by the artist Henry Moore. (1947-1967, Boks, Eijkelenboom, Middelhoek)

A modern garage in the centre of Dordrecht with a remarkable combination of workshop and showroom downstairs, and accommodation for mechanics and managers upstairs. The horizontal bands of the corner building align well with the urban context. (Gerritse)

EXPO ’67, the World Exhibition held in Montreal (Canada), showcases industrial progress. That is expressed by the architecture of the Dutch pavilion with its innovative aluminium ‘space frame’. Manufactured industrially, it can be completely disassembled and reused. The design earns the Reynolds Award from the American Institute of Architects. (Eijkelenboom & Middelhoek)

The offices of Gerrit Gerritse (Dordrecht) and Wout Eijkelenboom & Bram Middelhoek (Rotterdam) merge to become EGM architects. They share their passion for and knowledge of the healthcare sector. The new office brings together engineers skilled in project work with architects who are innovative and pioneering to form a professional, creative architecture firm.

Eindhoven University of Technology appoints Wout Eijkelenboom as an endowed professor of architectural and urban design. He fulfils this position with great enthusiasm until 1989. Sharing knowledge and showing students the ropes in the profession suits him and the office. Some students join the office and remain there.

The office rapidly professionalizes. Financial administration, project costs and time sheets become fully automated with the purchase of the B 731. EGM develops the software for the mainframe independently in house. In 1982 the B 5900 comes on the scene: a high-tech room-filling computer that also supports design work.

The residential building contains a mixture of functions, with 300 apartments, paramedical treatment rooms and shops. That makes it of great social value for the community. The building experiments with ‘central living’: multiple homes connected with one another by a communal space. A split-level zone serves as a transition between shared and private areas.

The collaboration between Ikazia and EGM is the office’s longest and is truly unique. More than 50 designs have been completed since the first commission. Ikazia was once located on the edge of the city but is now hemmed in by shops, schools, businesses and a residential tower. This dynamic urban context calls for a creative approach to each adaption and extension. EGM ensures that the current campus of buildings still looks modern and welcoming. That enables Ikazia to stay true to its core value: running a hospital where everybody feels comfortable and at home.

Conceptually strong design that shows police work – social visibility and enforcement – in a transparent way. This public contract aligns well with the social role increasingly played by EGM.

The Academic Hospital Utrecht (now UMC Utrecht) is the first UMC in the Netherlands and the springboard for the new EGM architects. The office can deploy its knowledge of architecture, building technology and project organization to the full here. The first patient arrives in 1984.

Integral service provision and professionalism of the highest quality. With the establishment of two subsidiaries for advice (Acoustics & Building Physics, and Construction) and the acquisition of engineering firm Nip, EGM can actively offer ‘all engineering’ services (now called Total Engineering). Together with a renewed organizational structure and newly appointed directors, integral quality from sketch to completion is fully guaranteed. Integral service provision will always remain part of the DNA of the office.

After earlier primary schools, this is the first design for academic-level education. The project for the Faculty of Applied Education and Computer Science at the University of Twente includes classrooms and practice rooms, a video studio and darkrooms. EGM subsequently designs a day-care centre for the children of staff.

Merwede Hospital (now Albert Schweitzer Hospital) features a number of innovative design solutions. For instance, a knowledge of the psychology of colour is applied in a progressive manner, and the entrance takes the form of a conservatory with real plants and monumental art. The design ensures that the office is viewed as the leader in the healthcare field. The relationship with the hospital remains active to this day.

A striking example of socially inclusive design that the office propagates right from the start. The circular layout ensures pleasant spaces, the smooth conduct of daily activities and harmony with nature outdoors. The design respects every religion and every ceremony. For EGM, the human scale and careful integration still form the point of departure for each new project.

EGM started work on the design of this prison in Leeuwarden and soon completed similar complexes in Dordrecht, Middelburg, Alphen aan de Rijn and Scheveningen. The office approaches each assignment from the viewpoint of the individual, and the optimal layout of the building combines maximum security with careful integration into the surroundings. Over the years, political views have shifted from a focus on incarceration to a policy aimed at the successful reintegration of inmates into society. The innovative concepts of EGM align with this development. With the largest prisons in the Netherlands and those in Belgium, EGM’s most recent penal facilities are state of the art, and widely praised for their humane character.

Research has been an important pillar of EGM since the very start. The office applies the knowledge acquired in projects and shares it with clients and professional colleagues. Handbook for Accessibility – on the subject of accessible and useful design for people with a handicap – has been the standard reference work on the market for over half a century and led to the appointment of EGM architect Maarten Wijk as visiting professor at Delft University of Technology. Publications such as Ziekenhuis: menselijk en modern (‘Hospital: humane and modern’)(1974) and the Jellema architecture series (since 1986) have been included in various educational programmes. EGM R&D has recently contributed to a PhD in the field of wellbeing and comfort among hospital staff, and EDAC-certified architects at EGM are engaged on a daily basis in design research into, among other things, the intensive care of the future.

EGM is an office that has always operated at the heart of society. Nothing exemplifies this better than a town hall: the place where politicians and citizens meet each other daily. Even before the fusion, the architects were working on town halls, and Tiel Town Hall was the latest in a long line of public buildings. The substantial project consisted of renovation, new development and garden design. The starting point for the architecture was to unite pleasant and coordinated dimensioning with complementary materials: from big and robust to small and refined. The distinctive round glazed council chamber overlooking the garden shows the people of the town where and how decision-making takes place.

Since 1987, EGM has designed alterations and extensions to the original Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in the centre of Utrecht. In 1993, work started on the design of a completely new hospital on the campus of UMC Utrecht. The children’s hospital opened its doors in 1999 and receives some 7,500 patients each year. Everything is done to make children feel at ease (facilities include a children’s school, theatre and outdoor playground), to involve parents and guardians in the care and recovery process, and to allow ‘normal’ life to continue as much as possible. This concept of healthcare provision and design is known today as the ‘family-centred care’ principle. EGM is now working for the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital again with a new Maternity Centre and a large department containing Paediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU).

EGM extended the building for the NCRV (Dutch Christian Radio Association) in the majestic Boomberg Park in Hilversum with careful attention for the detailing of the expressive brick facade and an inviting interior. The 150-metre-long building houses the restaurant, offices and recording studios for radio and television. Incoming daylight playfully reaches the furthest corners, while artificial light in synthetic sheets reflects and radiates outwards. The circular reception hall, numerous through views and meeting places, and the landing (or ‘pulpit’) halfway up the steps, help to create the desired atmosphere of serenity and contemplation of this broadcaster.

A new high-rise office tower combined with the renovation of an existing bank building. This post-modern office building occupies a prominent position in the centre of Rotterdam in terms of both physical presence and cultural value. The new building consists of three slender slabs, with the middle volume designed as a glazed and stepped structure above the atrium, called the ‘Stairway to Heaven’. With this office, EGM took a big step in the world of commercial office development.

A decades-long relationship began with the Structure Plan for Radboudumc. To this day, EGM has been realizing new buildings for care, research and education, breathing new life into heritage buildings, and revitalises its own designs many years later. The progressive ambition of the academic medical centre calls for facilities where patients can receive the best care, and where healthcare providers, researchers and students can perform at their very best. The buildings by EGM encourage healthy behaviour and stimulate the speedy recovery of patients. From 2022 on, the sustainability of the campus has been further strengthened through specific projects that reflect the motto: more nature and less development.

This residential and care centre is a great example of innovative thinking about combining homes and care facilities for seniors in society. The concept is based on the idea that seniors experience greater wellbeing if they continue to live independently for as long as possible, thereby retaining control of their lives. The homes are located in the heart of the neighbourhood, close to care and nursing facilities. Various forms of inpatient and outpatient care can be customized thanks to the good accessibility and layout of the homes.

The Klapwiek (225 homes) represents the many residential-care buildings realized by EGM during this period. It provides a fine place at the heart of the neighbourhood for seniors and mentally disabled young people. Residents and visitors meet one another daily in social and functional spaces such as the recreation hall, library, hairdressers, pétanque court, and care and meeting areas. These encounters, often informal and always involving a chat, demonstrably contribute to positive health perception among residents and care and welfare workers. Exactly 30 years later, in 2023, EGM designed a sustainable extension to the building. A total of 44 timber-structure prefab homes were built on the roof. That marked the start of the building’s second life.

This project introduced a new concept to the Netherlands: the ‘aging-in-place’ home. The term was put forward by the clients, the Humanitas Rotterdam foundation, during a workshop. This innovative concept enables the resident to continue living in the same home during multiple phases of life: the home adapts to the occupant, not vice versa. Living, caring and nursing are interconnected in the 195 homes. A unique aspect of the floor plans is the centrally positioned block of sanitary facilities that are directly accessible from every other space. The publicly accessible heart of the complex, featuring medical and paramedical services, a restaurant and a market square, fulfils an important social function in the neighbourhood.