Temporary ABN AMRO cooling unit located in Mahlerplein

The temporary cooling unit is part of a closed pipeline circuit filled with water cooled to a temperature of around 6°C. This flows through pipelines into the ABN AMRO offices, but not as tap water; it cools the indoor areas by emitting ‘cold’ (in other words: by removing heat), especially on days when the sun is shining. The circuit is completed when the heated water is returned to the cooling unit, where it is cooled again to a temperature of 6°C. The unit is fuelled by a tanker several times each week. These are the only times when workers are present there in person – the system is controlled and monitored remotely.

For its energy supply, in other words its cooling and heating, ABN AMRO is connected to the large underground pipeline tunnel in Gustav Mahlerlaan. This is part of a system of cables and pipelines running via Beethovenstraat into Maurice Ravellaan and alongside the new Ravel residential district, which also includes a district heating pipeline and various telecom and electricity cables . Next to plot D alongside Beethovenstraat (see the map below), we are moving the cables and pipelines in order to make it possible to build The Harmony; a housing complex with 63 social and 85 mid-market rented homes. The heating pipelines themselves were moved last September.

The rearrangement of all these cables and pipelines also has repercussions for the Valley housing complex (Beethovenstraat) and several buildings in and next to Domenico Scarlattilaan, such as EMA and Van der Valk: they are also cooled by means of a similar temporary cooling unit. For Valley, this is a small, electrically powered model that has been in use since October (until February 2026) in the Valley underground car park. The cooling unit that supplies EMA and Van der Valk will be in Scarlattilaan until mid-January 2026. This is also fuelled several times each week and controlled and monitored remotely.