A chat with… André Rongen

In a large, international organisation like Royal Haskoning thousands of people make their own individual impressions on the company’s results. Every now and then we like to put one of them in the spotlight.

André Rongen started his career as an architect with De Weger, which was later taken over by Royal Haskoning, and he retired a short time ago. For twenty-five years his biggest client was Fokker. The chairman, Frans Swarttouw, gave him a watching brief over the house style of this archetypal Dutch icon during new building and rebuilding plans for the hangars, workshops and office buildings at the five sites the company had at the time. ‘Listening carefully to what the client wants is the key to our success,’ says André, ‘like making use of all the expertise in Royal Haskoning.’ In 2003, along with two young designers, he won a prize with the innovative project ‘At home in the city’, a new look at old people’s accommodation in the future. ‘Leave old people, including those with dementia, in small groups in their familiar social environment and bring the care to them,’ explains André, ‘in appropriate accommodation.’ In his plan a ‘memory wall’ was used as a start to a conversation, to bring back memories. André and his winning project put Royal Haskoning on the map in the care of the elderly sector and many of his ideas are now being adopted. ‘I’m pleased that our Board of Management saw the signs and has acquired a deserved place in this market sector through selective takeovers (VHP, BM, Van Heugten).’ André was also happy to get involved in all kinds of pressure groups with responsibilities for development. ‘That brought Royal Haskoning in some nice jobs like the conversion of Maxis in Muiden into a shopping centre. What I always appreciated during my forty-year career was that I got the chance to develop new initiatives. That they were not just looked at with an eye to commercial gain, but with a view to making a social contribution too.’ André Rongen has not yet stopped working altogether. For example, he was appointed by Queen Beatrix to the Dutch Board of Building Arbitration. ‘If there’s one thing that has become clear to me it’s that communication in the building industry is extremely poor. There’s still a great role for our architects and project managers to play.’

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