In 1989, the firm of Neutelings & Roodbeen Architects was one of the participants in a competition held in February of that year by the European Patent Organization based in Munich. The competition had to lead to the construction of a new European Patent Office in Leidschendam, also called EPO (European Patent Office). Willem Jan Neutelings (1959) and Frank Roodbeen (1956) entered into a partnership in 1989 especially for this competition design. The collaboration ended in 1991. The European Patent Office houses the executive arm of the European Patent Organization. This organization was established to protect European inventions by granting patents. The office of the European Patent Organization is in Munich. This is where one can file the application. However, the examination of the patent application is carried out in Rijswijk, in the European Patent Office. In the mid-1980s, the number of patent applications in Europe increased significantly. In order to process the increasing number of applications quickly, the European Patent Office had to expand and the European Patent Organization decided to build a new office for about 3,000 employees in Leidschendam. The organization issued a competition for this purpose. In the first round, the European Patent Organization received 159 entries in May 1989. Nine participants were allowed to proceed to the second round (October 1989). After the second round, a third round was needed to determine a final winner. Indeed, the battle was still going on between Neutelings & Roodbeen Architects and the German firm Pysall-Stahrenberg & Partner. For this third round, the Dutch firm engaged the Bureau Bouwkunde to convince the organization that their design was both technically feasible and financially within the allowable price. This third round lasted from December 1989 to February 1990. Neutelings & Roodbeen Architects eventually won the competition. Neutelings & Roodbeen Architects was commissioned in May 1990 to make a preliminary design (V.O.). Completion of the preliminary design followed in June 1991. In August 1991, they received permission to start the final design (D.O.). However, work on the final design was halted in October that same year. Due to the European recession in the late 1980s, the number of patent applications decreased significantly. As a result, an increase in personnel was no longer necessary, as was the planned new building. There were also problems surrounding the financing of the new building. The European Patent Organization finances itself from the monies the applicant has to pay to obtain a patent. At the European level, however, there were fears that money would have to be added because of the new building. As a result of the reduced number of patent applications and the concerns regarding financing, it was decided to cancel the new building and to extensively rebuild the existing European Patent Office in Rijswijk according to the design of R.D. Bleeker. Neutelings & Roodbeen Architects' design for the EPA was realized in three phases through the three design rounds. The designs therefore show some differences; however, the main design corresponds. The design with which Neutelings & Roodbeen Architects won the competition consists of an asymmetrical grid of three-story office strips. Different gardens, each with its own theme, are designed on the interior spaces. The offices are located on the outside, with the secondary functions on the inside. The roof is arranged as a parking area with 14 vertical accesses. In this way, employees can park above their own offices. A separate, underground parking garage was designed for visitors. The public functions are located in three special building volumes. These building volumes stand in three glass-covered courtyards. Under a golden cone is the company restaurant, in the middle atrium is the conference center and next to it is the library with reading room and centrally located book tower where all patents are stored. The 14 gardens were designed from the second round by Yves Brunier. Each employee has a room with French doors to a garden. The gardens give identity to the office strips. The office building was expected to be completed in 1996. With a floor area of 150,000m², this building would be the largest office building in the Netherlands.