BLOSSITY
Hofplein 20
3032AC Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Nike European Headquarters
Location
The Netherlands
Scale
55.000m2 / 4000 employees
Timeline
5+ years
Sector
Corporate Urbanism
Services
Place Vision
Strategic Development
Delivery
Team
Jorick Beijer
David Struik
Christian Pappalardo
Partners
KVDL
Witteveen+Bos
Royal Haskoning
CHALLENGE
To help create and deliver (spatial) strategies for Nike’s European Headquarters that resonate with changing work and travel behaviour after the Covid-19 pandemic. For Nike, talent attraction and retention are vital, and this requires constant adjustments of the form and function of corporate real estate – especially between the buildings.
The second part of the challenge is managing the development of a new neighbourhood on and around a campus predominantly owned by Nike. The municipality of Hilversum seeks to develop a public sports hall, swimming pool, international school, and 1,000 residential units. Blossity’s task is to represent Nike in this complex process and to ensure a seamless approach to design, deal-making, placemaking, and delivery.
RESPONSE
We are acting as an in-house urban planning specialist, commissioned by Nike’s EMEA real estate department since 2019. We began by providing advice on long-term growth strategies for the campus portfolio, spatial feasibility studies for an on-campus hotel, sustainable mobility strategies and public space activations around the theme of sport and play. All focused on providing the best workplace experience for Nike teammates – and gradually embedding the campus more deeply into the community and city.
We then took on a more public-facing role, acting as delegated developer on behalf of Nike and managing all external relations for the campus masterplan. Our expert support here includes managing relationships with politicians, senior civil servants and community partners around the campus. Fundamental to this work is hands-on work on a municipal urban development plan, driving a strong narrative, a healthy business case and a sustainable partnership between Nike and the municipality of Hilversum.
As part of the placemaking strategy, Blossity designed and developed the temporary pump track and a new brand identity for the area. In the summer of 2023, we launched the Community Bootcamp Box as a new temporary activation for the extended community around the campus, continuing to bring the area brand to life. We orchestrated partnerships with brand anchors in the area, such as the Gooise Atletiek Club and the ROC van Amsterdam, to further strengthen Hilversum’s positioning as a capital of sport and innovation.
THE IMPACT
By providing a team with specific skills and the ability to scale up and down resources at short notice, we have been working with Nike for over five years as a specialist in-house advisor on urbanism and the future of cities.
Corporate clients like Nike find added value in the way Blossity combines in-depth knowledge of the subject, a strong sense of the dynamics within the organisation and our ability to represent the organisation as a neutral interface with external stakeholders.
