The Cloud Sales Centre of Oracle is located on a prominent position at de Nieuwe Vaart 5-9, close to the IJ. Cruz y Ortiz was asked to design a new façade for the property that used to be a warehouse. The building got partially destroyed by a fire that took place in the 60’s. Its original façade was characterized by the alternation of surfaces with transport openings and surfaces with small windows. On the roof a huge advertisement’s sign was placed over the full width of the lot. After the fire, the building was converted into a school with subsequent new facade. In the 90s the building was given a third facade, once housing a department of the municipality of Amsterdam by which the relationship with its industrial past completely disappeared. The façade as we met, once starting the project, was rather monotonous and proportion-less and above all: closed, beyond which most areas showed evident remnants of its industrial past: cast iron pillars are a clear example. The source of inspiration for the new façade stems from the original warehouse ‘Blaauwhoedenveem Vriesseveem’ typified by vertical articulation in closed and open façade parts. On the other hand, the tradition of Amsterdam’s building typology of allotments, plinth, center motif and cornice is also leading. With the new façade we merge two historical typologies into a new contextual architecture. The proposed façade reflects - as literal as possible - the rhythm of the construction, like we know Behrens’ did for the AEG warehouses: honest façades that do not hide anything. The pilasters divide the appearance of the building in nine building-high windows, with slender off-white profiles. The middle motif shows a slight deviation marking the central entrance. Both decisions result in an elegant and exalted façade bringing back scale. The plinth and cornice reflect the Amsterdam character. The façade design is a balanced design in ‘the city of stone’, with an ‘optimal interaction between inside-and-outside’, where comfort, light and visibility for the employees is guaranteed.