A Day Between Utrecht and Delft with Mecanoo's Lyanne Oosterhof
Lyanne Oosterhof is senior interior architect at Mecanoo, a multidisciplinary architectural firm with a broad range of projects in the Netherlands and abroad, based in Delft, the Netherlands. Lyanne joined Mecanoo in 2015 and has worked on a wide range of ambitious projects. She works closely together with the wider team, client and consultants to realise integrated designs. Functionality, user-friendliness, detailing, lighting, materials and acoustics are central to her work. Lyanne’s day involves a commute from Utrecht to Delft, walks in the city center, and sketching sessions.
6:15am: I wake up. It’s not my alarm, but the sound of my daughter waking up as well. After trying to close my eyes for a few more minutes, my partner and I rush to get ourselves and our daughter ready for work and daycare.
Lyanne with her family at home.
7:30am: While my partner brings our daughter to daycare, I open up my laptop on the kitchen counter and start my workday. I read and respond to e-mails, and look through some messages and documents. In this first hour and a half, I’ve checked off some of my most important tasks for the day.
9:00am: I jump into the car and drive from Utrecht to Delft. I love to listen to podcasts about world and financial news. My route to Delft brings me past various Mecanoo projects, such as the Delft Train Station.
10:00am: I arrive at our office in the city center of Delft, situated along the canals and next to the “skewed” church. The view of our historical office building, both inside and out, never gets boring. I walk in and get a coffee first. Our office, which has had several uses over the centuries, was most recently a hospital. The room where I currently work is located deep within the building on the third floor. By the time I reach my desk, I have already spoken with several colleagues.
10:30am: From this moment on, I hop from meeting to meeting with informal chats and sketch sessions with colleagues in between. My day has a lot of variety because of the diverse projects I work on. Designing is a big part of that, but also managing projects, talking to clients and advisors, checking project finances, and working on tasks for our own office.
Mecanoo-designed Delft Train Station from Lyanne's commute.
1:00pm: Depending on my schedule, I enjoy short walks with colleagues around the historic city center of Delft and its narrow alleys, it’s a good way to decompress and get a clear mindset for the rest of the day.
1:30pm: I pass by our material room to look for samples. It's such a nice and big space where I feel our work comes to life. The smell of freshly cut wood from our model workshop is part of that experience. I wander through our library and find some nice materials and bring it to the meeting to discuss the palette for one of our office projects.
3:30pm: I find a bit of time to sketch for a competition we’re working on. I plug in my ear pods to close myself off and concentrate. I love to sketch and create concepts for these early stages. I switch between sketching, reading some brief documents, search online for reference projects and end up dropping all of these things quickly in a document.
4:45pm: After closing my laptop, I rush home to avoid traffic jams and arrive on time at the daycare.
Lyanne at the Mecanoo office.
6:15pm: My daughter and I arrive home, while my partner has prepared dinner for us. After dinner, we play with our daughter and give her our full attention before her bedtime. I wish I had more time available with her, but I'm also grateful for the bit of rest and quietness after she goes to bed.
9:00pm: The rest of the night, I watch a bit of TV, do some things in and around the house and check my phone, often browsing second-hand trading apps. Sustainability is an important topic in my work life, and I try to incorporate it into my personal life as well. I enjoy searching for nice second-hand clothes, toys or items for our home, especially for our daughter.
10:30pm: Since my days start quite early, I go to bed early as well. This last part of my day I like to be relaxed and avoid any devices and external distractions — as much as is possible, of course! Often, my mind gets preoccupied with work, projects, and other concerns, so it's important for me to find a healthy balance. With a busy schedule and family life, things can get a bit hectic. Good night!