PROJECTS
National Police | The Hague Unit
'Anders Werken' in the largest police building in the Netherlands
With the move to the new Unit Headquarters at the Binckhorst in The Hague, the Police Unit Den Haag took a major step in 2026. Not just physically — from four outdated and dispersed locations to one new building of over 48,000 m² for approximately 2,200 employees — but above all in the way people work and collaborate.
Nassau guided the Unit through the change programme this transition requires. The brief was clear: Anders Werken could not become a real estate project. The focus was on behaviour, collaboration and culture — on what is needed to make people genuinely work differently, not just sit differently.
An integrated change programme
The programme Nassau developed and delivered consisted of several interconnected components. The starting point was research into work patterns, collaboration practices and the actual use of work environments across the various services. These insights informed both the building layout and the change approach.
In parallel, a communication programme was developed targeting all layers of the organisation — from unit leadership and management teams to team leaders, operational staff and support functions. Different audiences require different messages. For managers, the emphasis was on frameworks, leading by example and managing on results. For employees, the focus was practical: what changes, what stays the same, and how does the new building work in the daily reality of police work.
New work agreements made the principles of Anders Werken concrete and actionable. Ten shared agreements were developed for the entire location, covering workplace use, availability, collaboration, confidentiality and mutual accountability. Not static rules, but a living framework — with an explicit evaluation moment after one hundred days built into the approach.
The ambassador programme
The heart of the change programme was the ambassador programme. From virtually every part of the organisation, employees were selected and trained as ambassadors for Anders Werken. They form the link between the concept and the workplace — not as project spokespersons, but as colleagues who engage in conversation from a shared reality.
About The Hague Unit
The Hague Police Unit is one of the ten regional units of the National Police. The new Unit Office at Binckhorst brings together various disciplines under one roof — including the Regional Criminal Investigation Service and the Regional Intelligence Organisation Service. The handover of the keys took place in July 2026; the move-in process runs from August to September 2026.
'Nothing in isolation anymore. A question in criminal investigation quickly requires collaboration across different disciplines. At the old locations, people who needed each other daily simply didn't run into each other. That changes now.'
Hugo Aalders
Head of Operations
The Hague Police Unit
Nassau developed the Anders Werken Ambassador Guide for this purpose: a practical tool supporting ambassadors in facilitating team conversations, taking resistance seriously and translating principles into concrete behaviour. The guide addresses frequently asked questions, defines the boundaries of the ambassador role and provides conversation tools for a wide range of situations — from colleagues missing their fixed desk to questions about confidentiality, security and focus work.
The programme ran from May to August 2026 and was rolled out in multiple rounds, ensuring ambassadors were well prepared before the move-in phase began.
