--- title: In conversation with Hans Roest and Tim Baan date: 2026-05-08T13:58:00+02:00 author: Nina Swaep canonical_url: "https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/news/in-conversation-with-hans-roest-and-tim-baan/" section: Articles --- ![In conversation with Hans Roest and Tim Baan](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_1800x880_crop_center-center_90_none/2026%E2%80%9304%E2%80%9309_HIG_810.jpg) [ Interviews ](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/interviews/)# In conversation with Hans Roest and Tim Baan Hans Roest **(**[**Roest Architectuur**](https://roest-architectuur.nl/)**)** and Tim Baan **(**[**LIJNN**](https://lijnn.nl/)**)** have been working from a shared unit in Het Industriegebouw Rotterdam for ten years. **Having barely recovered from the annual Easter Egg Hunt, Hans and Tim join us on the terrace at by Jarmusch. “This was the first time I didn’t win a prize,” Hans complains. “It was so difficult this year.” “To be fair, you also had a dog with you, Hans, which wasn’t exactly convenient,” his office mate Tim points out. “Either that, or we’re simply getting old,” Hans laughs. “Because let’s face it: after ten years as part of the HIG community, perhaps we’ve become the** ***seniors*****!”** ### **Routines** Tim grins: “A lot of crazy things can happen over the course of ten years, but plenty of dull routines can develop too. Hans and I, for example, have been walking the exact same route through the city every single day for a decade. The only variable is whether Puk, Hans’s dog, joins us. Starting from HIG, the walk takes us around 45 minutes, heading towards the Oude Haven and returning via the Marktplein.” Hans: “After spending so much time together, we no longer have to think about where we’re going and can chat to our hearts’ content. If I walk the same route with somebody else, I immediately feel completely out of sorts.” ### **Twenty-five years of friendship** Still, it wasn’t a given that the two men would end up sharing an office. Hans explains why: “Tim and I share a Unit, while each running our own company. On a personal level, though, we go *waaay back*. You think ten years at HIG is a long time? *No way*—we’ve known each other for more than 25 years, since our days at technical college.” Hans continues: “To me, Tim was the ‘Spitsmotherfucker’,” Hans roars with laughter. “You see, I always travelled via Zuidplein, and who would be standing there handing out the free morning newspaper *Spits*? Tim! But then, when I walked into the lecture hall, he would suddenly be sitting next to me. How did that happen?” *Anyway*, when Tim and his business partner at the time moved into their first office—in one of those stately townhouses opposite the Kunsthal—I started going there to bother him,” he jokes. Tim chuckles: “Yes, that was a strange place. A bankrupt architect made his workspace available to us so that he could keep working there himself for a little longer. Eventually, we had exhausted that arrangement, so my business partner Wai and I started looking for a proper office. Hans joined us with the idea of sharing a space. Along the way, Wai—by then the father of three daughters—decided to trade entrepreneurship for salaried employment, leaving just Hans and me. And that’s how it came to be: two companies, one office, no employees, and never any hassle!” ### **Playground** Hans continues: “I remember the day we came to look around as if it were yesterday: two young entrepreneurs with project drawings already in hand. Most of Het Industriegebouw was still deserted at the time. The first Units on the third floor had only just been completed, but before we had even stepped inside, we were told: nice try, guys, but everything has already been rented! Fortunately, the new owner—Luuk—soon came over and reassured us: don’t worry, we’ll build more!” *That marked the beginning of HIG’s transformation into the vibrant place it is today. Would you like to learn more about the philosophy behind our building and the people working behind the scenes to shape it? Read more about our* [*team and our vision*](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/team-visie/)*.* Tim: “My brother-in-law, Ben Luteijn, was one of the designers who worked on HIG,” he continues. “That meant we could conveniently choose our future office from the plans before it was renovated. We worked incredibly hard, but we also easily spent an hour a day competing at Mario Kart. The loser had to treat the other to dinner at Héroine.” Hans’s eyes light up: “Yes, in the early years, this place was one big experiment—almost like a playground. Sometimes a few pallets would spontaneously be carried into an empty office, followed by a DJ set and a few crates of beer, and the party would begin. We flew drones through the corridors, while the loading bay would be filled with animals one day and transformed into a casino the next.” ### **Professionalisation** Hans: “Of course, it’s easy to say that we miss how spontaneously the community used to get together for drinks, but if we’re honest, both HIG and we ourselves have matured in the meantime. Sometimes we still think we’re young pups, but that’s obviously no longer true. Both we and HIG’s events have become more professional. The only thing that hasn’t changed is that we’re always there,” he says. Tim: “We still absolutely love everything that happens here, and we appreciate it so much! When you hear what things are like at other multi-tenant office buildings, it doesn’t sound good at all. That’s when you truly realise how distinctive this workplace is. It isn’t some random office with a suspended ceiling in a characterless tower, but a lively community where people are constantly coming up with something new.” Tim continues: “Look, I absolutely hate working from home! When I’m going to work, I prefer to leave the house and go somewhere where I can concentrate. That was already true when I lived just around the corner, and it has remained true since I moved to Rotterdam Zuid. Sharing an office with Hans makes it feel as though you have a colleague—a miniature team—even though we each do our own thing. Now that Hans travels more frequently, laziness occasionally gets the better of me and I work from home for a day, but the office will always be my preference.” *Curious about the workspaces in our building? Explore all our available* [*spaces and units*](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/work-spaces/)*, or contact us to discuss the possibilities.* ### **Staying small** Hans laughs: “You really are such a modern guy, Tim!” Tim: “No, look, I simply enjoy the feeling of being right in the middle of the city’s hustle and bustle. Even if we’re tucked away together in our private corner of the office and don’t go anywhere at all, HIG makes me feel as though all kinds of wonderful things are happening around me and that I’m part of them!” Hans: “Yes, I agree. Of course, we don’t have any employees either. We did try it, by the way, because that’s every entrepreneur’s dream to some extent, isn’t it? But as soon as I hired my very first employee, I realised that I was giving up some of the freedom I had gained as an entrepreneur. That is precisely what I don’t want! So even though we’ve matured professionally, my ambition as an entrepreneur is to remain small for as long as possible. Seriously, I’m so attached to life as my own boss that something truly extraordinary would have to happen for me to give it up. I don’t need to manage anyone—I’m perfectly capable of micromanaging myself,” he laughs. “I thought it was telling when the director of another large architecture firm visited us and looked around our office with a hint of envy. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘I’d gladly trade places with you.’ Isn’t that wonderful?” ### **Working together** “We do collaborate frequently with other architects and with each other. Tim and I both work on buildings, but as a building engineer, he focuses more on the technical side, while as an architect, I focus more on design.” Tim: “We each have our own specialisation too. Together, that makes us a kind of large firm in one.” Hans: “That’s extremely useful, because clients often hire me for my architectural *skills* but refuse to take my advice about the technical side. That’s when I can conveniently bring Tim in. Although we handle more projects separately than together, we always have a great time when we do collaborate.” ### **New adventures** “My most adventurous project was a residential neighbourhood in Iraq,” Tim says. “In the end, the developer fled with his tail between his legs, and it was never built.” Hans adds: “And I found it hilarious when I spotted one of my own designs in Suriname on the television programme *B&B Vol Liefde*!” Tim: “I hope many more wonderful adventures like those await us in the future! I also think staying young would be a great ambition. I feel as though we’re at our peak right now, so let’s try to make it last for as long as possible,” he says cheerfully. “For example, by continuing to learn every day and discovering how to do things more efficiently, innovatively and effectively. At the moment, we’re exploring how best to use AI in our respective fields. Sometimes Hans comes over to my desk four times a day to show me what he has discovered now.” Hans: “Yes, AI is certainly a big topic. Creating visualisations and diagrams, for example, used to take us several days, whereas now it can be done in just 40 seconds. That doesn’t mean it produces the same level of quality—particularly from a technical drawing perspective—so it still requires a great deal of our attention.” Tim: “That’s true, but it can help us accelerate certain processes. It’s an interesting new tool with clear potential, although it hasn’t fully realised that potential yet. That’s why we’ll continue experimenting, being the modern guys we are,” he concludes with a laugh. ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_1120x630_crop_center-center_90_none/2026%E2%80%9304%E2%80%9309_HIG_831.jpg) ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_1120x630_crop_center-center_90_none/2026%E2%80%9304%E2%80%9309_HIG_752.jpg) ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_1120x630_crop_center-center_90_none/2026%E2%80%9304%E2%80%9309_HIG_537.jpg) [ ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_910x600_crop_center-center_90_none/2026%E2%80%9304%E2%80%9309_HIG_420.jpg) #### Interviews ### In the neighbourhood: wine and cheese bar Juni ](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/news/in-the-neighbourhood-wine-and-cheese-bar-juni/) [ ![](https://cdn.hetindustriegebouw.nl/images/articles/_910x600_crop_center-center_90_none/2026%E2%80%9303%E2%80%9326_HIG_0827_2026-05-06-092229_ztko.jpg) #### Interviews ### Catch of the month: Linda van Rooijen ](https://hetindustriegebouw.nl/en/community/news/catch-of-the-month-linda-van-rooijen/)