About
KAAN Architecten is an international architectural practice engaged in context-specific, timeless designs spanning a broad range of scales and typologies in both the private and public sectors.
Founded and led by Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen, and Dikkie Scipio, the office is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, supported by satellite offices in Paris and São Paulo. Nearly forty years of experience and a diverse international team shape a dynamic, culturally rich work environment.
The firm’s approach centers on an architecture of dialogue, embracing an inclusive, relational understanding to the surrounding world, fostering meaningful connections within its growing complexity.
Among the most prominent completed projects are large-scale, complex structures such as the Netherlands Forensic Institute and the Courthouse Amsterdam; cultural landmarks including the the transformation of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp (KMSKA); and smaller, intimate buildings like Crematorium Sieseigem or the Loenen Pavilion.
Recently, KAAN Architecten completed the Education Centre for the University of Groningen and JUMP, a large-scale, versatile building in Aubervilliers, Paris.
Currently, the office is engaged in several high-profile projects across Europe. Among them are the new terminal at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the refurbishment of the National Bank of Belgium in Brussels, a 155m tower in the city center of Rotterdam, a laboratory and office building at CERN in Geneva, the renovation of the Paul-Henri Spaak building at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Research and education are integral to the practice, with partners and team members actively engaging in teaching and academic exchange.
The office maintains close ties with TU Delft, where Kees Kaan has long been Professor of Architectural Design and initiator of the Complex Projects Chair, and where Vincent Panhuysen is Visiting Professor within the AE+T department. Since 2019, Dikkie Scipio has held the Chair of Architectural Design at the Münster University of Applied Sciences in Germany.
This collective engagement sustains a continuous dialogue between academia and practice, with many team members contributing to education and numerous graduates from TU Delft and other institutions becoming part of the office.
KAAN Architecten’s work is defined by an equilibrium of clarity and complexity—an architecture of dialogue that seeks coherence amid competing demands. Each project emerges from what the office calls the critical design space: the overlap of truth, agreement, and practice where multiple voices converge through a shared narrative. The resulting buildings are both rational and expressive—precise in geometry, rigorous in craft, and rooted in a civic sense of permanence.
The firm's work has garnered numerous international awards for architectural excellence and has been widely featured in various publications and exhibitions. In 2022, KAAN Architecten released its monographic publication, "Portraits," presenting fifteen of its major built works as distinct yet related characters. Each project embodies its own identity thorugh the nurturing process of building narratives.
This reflects the practice’s broader way of working, where strong narratives structure the design process, aligning many voices, preserving coherence, and guiding projects as they evolve.
Kees Kaan
Kees Kaan is an architect and professor of Architectural Design at TU Delft, where he initiated the Complex Projects Chair, focusing on large-scale architecture in the context of global urbanisation. From 2019 to 2024, he chaired the Architecture Department and serves as Principal Investigator at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS). Throughout his career, he has been involved in large and multifaceted projects that demand clarity and coherence—qualities central to his method of building narratives that connect people, processes, and ideas across all stages of design. His professional and academic work are deeply intertwined, rooted in analytical precision and a belief in the enduring cultural role of architecture. Beyond his teaching and research, he lectures internationally and serves on juries and boards in the Netherlands and abroad. In 2024, he was inducted as a member of the Académie d’Architecture, recognising his contribution to contemporary architectural discourse.
Vincent Panhuysen
Vincent Panhuysen is an architect and visiting professor at TU Delft. Trained in woodcraft, industrial design, and architecture, he combines conceptual clarity with technical precision, ensuring continuity from idea to construction. His design approach emphasises functionality, spatial quality, and calm organisation, creating architecture that is both direct and enduring. With a keen understanding of context and a rigorous sense of proportion, he translates ambitious programmes into clear, generous spaces that encourage openness and dialogue. Alongside his professional work, Panhuysen lectures internationally on design process and contextual sensitivity, sharing his experience in public and institutional projects. In 2015, his guidance in the renovation of the Provinciehuis of North Brabant was recognised with the Commissarispenning, a medal of merit from the Commissioner of the King.
Dikkie Scipio
Dikkie Scipio is an architect and professor of Architectural Design at the Münster University of Applied Sciences. Trained in applied arts, industrial design, and architecture, she leads projects ranging from urban plans to interiors, with a particular focus on museums, heritage, and craftsmanship. Her work explores the intersection of expansion and preservation, where historical layers are reinterpreted through a contemporary lens. Deeply engaged with the concept of beauty and the expressive potential of materials, Scipio’s approach combines sensitivity with precision, creating architecture that honours both time and place. In addition to her professional practice, she writes, lectures internationally, and serves on several boards and juries. In 2023, she was named Woman Architect of the Year by the Prix des Femmes Architectes, recognising her influence on architectural culture and her contribution to public discourse.
Awards
- 2025
- Winner Schreudersprijs – Museum Paleis Het Loo
- Nomination BNA Award, Identity and Iconic Value – Netherlands American Cemetery Visitor Center
- 2024
- Winner Prix Versailles Museums 2024 – Museum Paleis Het Loo
- Shortlist Rotterdam Architectuurprijs 2024 – The Lobby, Crystal House
- Nomination ArchDaily Building of the Year (Offices) – iCampus
- Nomination Dezeen Awards 202, Cultural project – Netherlands American Cemetery Visitor Center
- Special commendation European Museum of the year 2024 (EMYA) – Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
- 2023
- Winner Cultural Building of the Year (Public vote), Archello Awards 2023 – Museum Paleis Het Loo
- Winner Hugo Häring Preis, Neckar-Alb district – Geo- and Environmental Centre (GUZ)
- Finalist World Green Infrastructure Award – Parque Orla Piratininga (POP)
- Nomination Dezeen Awards 2023, Architecture Heritage project – Museum Paleis Het Loo
- 2022
- Winner International Architecture Awards 2022 – Courthouse Amsterdam
- Nomination Simon Prize 2022 – Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
- Nomination DAM Preis – GUZ Tübingen
- Nomination ArchDaily Building of the Year (Offices) – De Walvis
- Nomination ArchDaily Building of the Year (Housing) – Ilot13
- 2021
- Winner Macael Award – Loenen Pavilion
- Winner ABB LEAF Awards (Best Arts & Culture Building Project) – Utopia
- Finalist ARC2021 Award – Courthouse Amsterdam
- Nomination Architectenweb Awards (Office Building of the Year) – De Walvis
- Shortlist Frame Awards 2021(Governmental Interior of the Year) – Crematorium Siesegem
- 2020
- Winner Prix d’architectures 2020 – CMA Hauts-de-France
- Winner S.ARCH 2020 Completed – CMA Hauts-De-France
- Shortlist Dezeen Awards 2020, Civic and cultural interior – Crematorium Siesegem
- Shortlist S.ARCH 2020, Conceptual design – Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Terminal
- 2019
- Winner Beste Bibliotheek van Vlaanderen en Brussel 2019/2020 – Utopia
- Winner ADC Awards (Higher Education – ISMO
- Winner The PLAN Award (Public space – Completed projects) – Crematorium Siesegem
- Nomination Abe Bonnema Architectuurprijs 2019 – CUBE
- Nomination Schoolgebouw van het Jaar 2019 Architectenweb Awards – CUBE
- 2018
- Winner International Architecture Awards – Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Terminal
- Winner Marmomac Stone Award – Supreme Court of the Netherlands
- Winner Frame Awards (Governmental Interior of the Year – Public’s Choice) – B30
- Nomination Oscar Niemeyer Award – Campus UAM Piracicaba
- Nomination NRP Gulden Feniks (Renovatie) – B30
Exhibitions & Publications
- 2023
- Unausgesprochenes Wissen/Unspoken Knowledge/Le (savoir) non-dit, ETH Zurich (CH)
- The New Together – PLATFORM Architecture Festival, Venice (IT)
- Reflections – Renewing Paleis Het Loo, Rotterdam: nai010 publishers
- The Courthouse: Architecture for the Public Good, Rotterdam: nai010 publishers
- 2022
- The Making Of – Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (BE)
- The Auto Drives Architecture, Bilbao (ES)
- L'Architecture Manifeste, Rennes (FR)
- Bridging Time – The renovation of the KMSKA, Rotterdam: nai010 publishers
- PORTRAITS 15 Buildings – KAAN Architecten, Zurich: Park Books
- 2019
- Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, "Eyes of the City", Shenzhen (CN)
- Dedalo Minosse Prize Exhibition – Basilica Palladiana, Vicenza (IT)
- 2018
- 2A Continental Architectural Awards Exhibition – IAAC, Barcelona (ES)
- Model Agency – ARCAM, Amsterdam (NL)
- A look into aviation terminals of the future – The Base, Schiphol (NL)
- 2017
- Dedalo Minosse Prize Exhibition – Palazzo Chiericati, Vicenza (IT)
- Daglicht Architectuur – Borneo Architecture Centre, Amsterdam (NL)
- 2016
- One Mould – Galería Tiro al Blanc, Guadalajara (MX)
- Where modern justice lives – United Kingdom Supreme Court, London (UK)
- Procesos – Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Argentina, Córdoba (AR)
- Are we human? – Istanbul Design Biennial, Istanbul (TR)
- EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture, Mies van der Rohe Award – Wroclaw Architecture Centre, Wroclaw (PL) /
- Architektur Zentrum Wien, Vienna (AT) / DAM, Frankfurt (DE) / La Triennale di Milano, Milan (IT)
- 2015
- EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture, Mies van der Rohe Award – MUHBA Oliva Artes Centre, Barcelona (ES) /
- BOZAR, Brussels (BE) / Wroclaw Architecture Centre, Wroclaw (PL)
- Belgian Architecture – VAI Flemish Architecture Institute, Antwerp (BE)
- 2014
- PLANTA Collateral Event, 14th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, Venice (IT)
- City as a Vision: tribute to Michel Ragon – Frac Centre: Les Turbulences, Orléans (FR)
- Philippe Rotthier Prize, CIVA – Fondation pour l’Architecture, Brussels (BE)
- Paris-Saclay, le Futur en Chantier(s) – La Maison de l’Architecture en Île de France, Paris (FR)
Rotterdam
Boompjes 255
3011 XZ Rotterdam
The Netherlands
T +31 10 206 0000
Paris
8 rue Saint-Merri
75004 Paris
France
T +33 1 81 69 55 55
São Paulo
Av.Angélica 2395 Loja 2
01227 200 Higienópolis
São Paulo, SP
Brazil
T +55 11 99331 19 32
contato@kaanarchitecten.com
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T +31 10 206 0000
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