Unilever Headquarters: A Green, People-Centric Office Inspired by Traditional Indonesian Village

Designed by Aedas, the award-winning building fosters community, diversity, and sustainability

The design of the Unilever Jakarta headquarters is unique in its approach to integrating nature both internally and externally. The building's layout references the traditional Indonesian village, promoting values of nature, community, and diversity. The natural-lit courtyard atrium connects all parts of the office, creating a sense of unity and cohesion. High visual connectivity and common spaces along the atrium encourage collaboration, fostering a close-knit community. The building also uses indentations to introduce greenery and shifting floorplates to reduce solar heat gain, making it a truly green office space.

In realizing this design, Aedas employed a variety of technologies. Solar studies were conducted using Rhino and Honeybee to guide the building form and design. The North-South building orientation was employed to reduce façade areas in direct sunlight, and aluminum blade louvers were installed onto double glazed curtain walls to achieve high daylight penetration and reduce solar heat gain. The floorplates were designed to overhang each level so that lower levels benefit from shading.

The design team, including Steven Thor, Liow Ting Teng, Bernhard Viereck, and Kim Min Su, faced several challenges in bringing this project to life. They had to deliver a high quality, contemporary project on a low cost, and with a shortage of skilled labor, the design was simplified to improve constructability. Fixtures were designed to be simple and locally available to reduce cost. To address concerns of earthquakes in the region, a low-rise office design was preferred as a cost-effective precaution.

The office evokes a campus setting, with four levels of workspace on top of a communal ground level. A central atrium serves as the town hall event space and amphitheater, drawing people in and channeling them to their destinations. The low building height and large floorplate encourage users to move horizontally across the space, bringing convenience to interaction and collaboration.

The Unilever Jakarta headquarters is a testament to the power of design in fostering community, diversity, and sustainability. It is a green, contemporary setting that encourages collaboration and communication, much like a tightly knit community. The building was awarded the Golden A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2018, a testament to its outstanding design and impact.