Conviviality.
All those blue chairs.
Lots of history.
Each Chamber has its own story.
I think it’s a special building.
The heart of the democracy.
The mascot of The Hague.
The Binnenhof is very important to me.
It's my first walk with the dog in the morning.
It began 800 years ago.
All those centuries, they've built, demolished, remodelled, renovated,...
... enlarged and added buildings. There isn't one date of construction.
It's a complex that is heavily guarded.
But it's also very accessible to the public.
Its accessibility is unique in Europe.
Besides that every Dutch citizen is a bit of an Binnenhof expert.
zitten hier natuurlijk een aantal Hoge Colleges van Staat.
it contains key institutions of state, like the Parliament: the Senate the House of Representatives, the Council of State.
But also the Ministry of General Affairs, including the PM and his staff, are located here.
It's used intensively, and it's very historic, which causes friction at times.
Because our current demands are different than a few 100 years ago.
It's assumed that these historic buildings can handle and facilitate it seamlessly.
The skin is good.
but the intestines, tendons and nerves need to be renewed.
That is the technical systems.
We're in one of the technical attics of the Binnenhof.
You can see that someone has hung up a precautionary tarp so that in case of a leak,
the water doesn't get too close to the wiring.
At the moment we need to repair the roofs, since we’ve had lots of leaks.
We can't repair them now, because the safety provisions were not approved.
As Central Government Real Estate Agency we worry about much more than leakage.
We also have to deal with massive clusters of wiring...
concrete degradation, cracking, mould formation, flooding in the basement.
confusing routes and entrances, and fire safety.
If a fire occurs, the people can exit safely, but the historic buildings would not survive the blaze.
These problems have to be dealt with now, because laws are becoming stricter.
Technical installations are well beyond their lifespan and more than 25 years old.
The Binnenhof means peace to me.
My job.
My life.
This is where it happens.
It's an important place.
It's the Hofstad, that says enough.
The Binnenhof is The Hague, so it has to stay just the way it is.