Tough motorcycle world translated into architecture

In the world of motorcyclists, REV'IT! is a household name. This Dutch motorcycle apparel company started small, but grew steadily. Therefore, a large new headquarters arose at Vorstengrafdonk business park in Oss. REV'IT! calls it a "house of design, performance and innovation. A beautifully finished steel structure forms the core of the design.

Motorcycle clothing company REV'IT! Sport International has a distinct corporate philosophy, in which transparent working methods, pioneering spirit and high quality standards are paramount. The architecture of the new headquarters needed to exude this. The result is a tough, transparent, no-nonsense building of steel and glass, carefully detailed and with a restrained color palette of black, gray and yellow. The design was created by cepezed architects from Delft. 

Strikingly neatly designed details

The new headquarters acts as a showcase and contains office spaces, meeting units and a showroom, testing laboratory, studio, photo studio, restaurant, gym and warehouse for over a hundred employees. The building consists of two long bays, one slightly shorter than the other. A skylight runs across the longitudinal axis. The main steel load-bearing structure is visible almost everywhere and at the voids - in the axis and along the facades - load-bearing columns are even emphatically placed in plain sight. 

A deep black powder coating on the facade panels, supports, columns and wind bracing emphasizes the interplay of lines in the building. This color, RAL 9004, is the house style color of REV'IT! Connections and other details are strikingly neatly designed. For example, no sketch plates were used for the connections, but bolted steel nodes, and there is a nice slot under the roof edge for the rainwater drainage.

Durable kit of parts

As with many other designs, cepezed assumed a 'kit of parts' and a wide span of 16.5 meters for this design. This construction makes it possible to divide the building flexibly, now and in the future. The office section, which includes studios and a reception area on the first floor, consists of two floors to the left and right of the open longitudinal axis, and voids along the facades. The warehouse remained open throughout its height. In the future, the building can be easily expanded. Moreover, the kit of parts facilitates disassembly and sustainable reuse of the steel parts, should it ever be needed. 

The facades have a steel frame and consist of vertically placed steel plates - as long as fourteen meters - and partially full-glass facades. The functions inside are readable from the outside. Because of the voids along the façade and especially because of the longitudinal axis, there is also an optimal view through the building in the interior. And because the skylight follows the long axis of the building, it also instinctively connects the office section with the warehouse behind it.

Blue steel staircase

The office floors are accessed by a cool, blue-steel staircase. The space given to the staircase almost makes you forget that this beautiful object is also just a functional part of the building! The blue steel is shown off well by the pronounced, closed sides, and it is immediately visible from the entrance. REV'IT! designed and produced some of its own furniture for the interior such as tables, counters and pantries. These are polygonal objects made of brushed aluminum. The interior designers of Studio Westgeest maintained the industrial atmosphere of cepezed's design.