MSc1 Learning and Making in the City
Author Pavel Bouse Tutors noA architecten, Gert Somers, Leontine de Wit Coordinator Susanne Pietsch (s.pietsch@tudelft.nl)
axonometry. Vierhaven
Vocational Craft School Vierhaven
About TU Delft project in the studio of Architecture of the Interior is a conversion of two buildings. The two buildings in which the craft school is located are a former warehouse and office building from 1949 (Keilestraat 9B) and a storage building from 1959 (Keilestraat 9A), both built for the harbour company van Bennekum. The older one is a robust concrete structure with a regular grid of columns, two floors and a non structural, largely closed, facade from brick. The one from 1959 has a concrete construction and a large steel space frame in the roof which spans the whole building. Both buildings are 50m deep and 38, resp. 30m wide and can house two floors of programme. In the back, on the Keilehaven-side, there is a pier attached to the plot. In between the buildings there is a shared courtyard.
The Story
It’s a sentiment that echoes around the harbor, but quietly.
site plan. Lekhaven
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FOLLOW THE STORY
I did not want to get up at all, this morning, but I have no idea how long it will take me, so I went there right for the opening hour. I have to do it, I want to do it. I have been holding this idea in my head for quite some time already, but I’m not sure about few things. So, I hope that someone will be there to advice me. If I don’t mess it up and if it looks good at least a bit, I know, she’ll be excited.
elevation. waterfront
I’m going down on Benjamin Franklinstraat and along the way I’m driving by a squalid industrial area. Everything looks so desert. Brick warehouses, water towers, concrete roads, rusty signs, industrial lamps blinking on my way through the morning dusk. There is barely a living soul on the street and the straight road is nearly endless, so I am pedaling more and more just to be there as soon as possible. As the bike swims along the way, it seems to me that I have flat rear tire. That’s for the second time this month already - damn piece of crap. I’m passing by an old brick building, which looks more than empty, and as soon as I show up from behind its corner, the morning sun reveals the waking life around the port. The new streets along the water are already finished and several plots are already starting to be
built upon. Offices? Residential buidlings? I don’t know. At the end of the port there is a wooden pier, which seems to be here for ages. The sun is pulling out of wood the last remains of water. The morning haze sprawling over the port is almost mesmerizing. I’m getting close to an old storage house, where even from a distance, through high-placed windows, I can see how the daylight penetrates the skylight and falls upon the roof steel structure. I’m turning right from the main street and driving along the storage house. I am passing by the big doors, the last of which - the third, is wide open. This is the main entrance.
ground floor.
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I park my bike across the paved way, right on the water edge. I lock it to the rack. There is a guy in overalls standing right in front of the entrance smoking his morning cigarette. He must be a school employee, apparently a handyman. The expression on his face clearly describes his enthusiasm he is about plunge with into the next working day. As soon as I enter the building, I am overwhelmed with the Keilestraat 9A vs. Keilestraat 9B. courtyard
avalanche of sounds wafting throughout the structure. I stop and listen for a while, trying to understand the sound of noise, the chaos, trying to discern the individual sounds, the various tools hitting and working that seem to be struggling with each other. After about a minute I wake up finding out that the concierge was looking at me for the whole time and calling for me, what do I wish.
Keilestraat 9A. east facade
When I tell her my intentions, she pulls out two papers without any word, and gives me an old ink pen. I don’t even know what am I signing. Frankly, I do not even care, I just want to get to work. The earlier I start, the better. The concierge sends me to the right where I walk along a low seating hidden behind a row of columns. There are couple of people who are either waiting for someone or just enjoying the morning sunrays with a coffee, they bought in the adjacent buffet. Keilestraat 9A. entrance hall
As I go on, the noise and the feeling of participation is increasing. It is just a few steps and suddenly on my left side, the whole working area reveals itself in front of me. On the side, I notice a guy heading towards me holding a bloody finger. And as his blood is dripping on the concrete paneling along the way, I am trying to put on some pity expression. But he just smiles and, without a word, passes me by. He’s heading to the first aid room.
Keilestraat 9A. interior facade
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The scale of paving and the material determine which area is meant for communication and which is meant for work. On several spots there are people working already. In the front part of the central workshop there is all the equipment for public. I don’t hesitate for long and I’m heading to the first free spot I see. Along my way, in the rear part of the main workshop, I notice a teacher, a master, is checking attendance in his class. He’s shaking his head. The teaching is already beginning as well. There are still a few people passing me by very quickly running up the stairs to the galleries, diverging into their classrooms. Only one man is standing on the first floor gallery leaning against the railing and majestically gazing into the main workshop area. I wonder, who is he?
Items of Sentiment. steel sliding doors, sprinkler valve
I’m slowly starting to work and after a half of an hour a guy comes and sits right next to me. He’s Spanish and came here to make a lamp for his girlfriend. I wish I had this idea before.. We exchange a few words and after that, everyone minds his own work. Around noon, he comes again, asking me to go for a lunch to the school canteen. I agree. I put all the unfinished work in the shelf under the table and leave it with a tag with my name on it, I just take my backpack
with me. We leave the building through the entrance right next to the buffet finding ourselves in the street in between the buildings. And as it got warm outside, the outdoor seating is already fully occupied. The people who don’t have a chair are sitting on the stairs or are just hanging around in groups or having a cigarette in front of the wall, which absorbs all the midday sun. Almost immediately, we are walking into the next building. Keilestraat 9A. courtyard entrance
Keilestraat 9B. east facade
Items of Sentiment. steel beam pulley, steel doors
We go through a small vestibule with staircase that serves exclusively the administrative part of the school. We walk through the door and after we miss the print shop on our left side, we are already in the heart of the building. And even though it is as opened as the storage house, it is different. The sounds have changed. They’re more subdued, almost indistinguishable. We do a few more steps and are amazed as we look around. We turn around and notice some boys
on the balcony nervously arguing about something. We don’t understand a word, but my guess is that they’re in trouble and are now waiting to see the director. We continue towards the canteen and walk through the central space that is incredibly opened, but still creates quiet bays for study in groups or for individuals. With the scale and character of the furnishing as it was offering different behaviors, what to do and how to feel. Keilestraat 9B. library area
Keilestraat 9A. interior facade
Right in front of us, under one of the staircases, there is a guy who is obviously trying to impress this girl. How, in the right mind, is she buying it? He is sleazy and looks like a dick. We start laughing out loud. The concrete structure stretching over the two atriums is telling its story. Some things had been taken away, some things had been added. There is an endless flow of people going up and down the staircase structures. And even from the bottom you can see how the people on the first floor hallways stroll, stop, have fun together. They’re watching us. We hide in the queue in the canteen. There are three meals in the offer of the day. I cannot help myself but I didn’t really get used to local flavors yet, so, I’m taking only a decadently decorated muffin, which disappears in me after two bites. After the meal, we come back to the work.
Keilestraat 9B. south facade
Items of Sentiment. rope noose, wall lamp
Keilestraat 9B. south facade
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And as the sun slowly sets, I’m packing my things. Other guys are still working, but I’m already finished. I say bye to all people with whom I talked, even only a few words, and leave the same way I had come in. In the moment, when I’m passing the low seating, I notice, it is completely empty. Even the outdoor seating is not occupied anymore. I can feel how the noise is slowly fading away. I go out and head to my bike. I’m confused. I’m sure I had parked my bike here. After a while, my certainty disappears. I’m searching for couple of minutes, but it’s not there. It’s gone.
Keilestraat 9A. facade structure
Keilestraat 9B. facade structure
I inhale deeply and with the exhale, I resign for a moment. But immediately, I receive new energy with the view of the wooden pier. There are few couples who came here to enjoy the sunset. Suddenly, I’m not in a hurry anymore. I look through the window of a furniture store,
which is on the corner, I put my collar up and walk the street along the water. I’m walking on the concrete paneling trying not to step on the gap in between them. And on the horizon I see the port of Rotterdam and its cranes as huge arms reaching for the last sunrays. pier.
Drawings
1. analytical drawings 2. climate concept 3. sections and plans 4. construction 5. details
Concept. position in the city
Urban Concept. primary road, secondary road, waterfront promenade
Urban Concept. waterfront access
Concept. school as a cross-fertilizer
Concept. school as a vehicle for identity
Acoustics. noise intensity
supply pipe outlet pipe Ventilation. natural and mechanical
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1. inside / outside seating 2. shading of south facade
Sunpath. building orientation
2.
longitudal section.
plans. ground floor
Keilestraat 9A, 9B. ground floor
Keilestraat 9A, 9B. first floor
Keilestraat 9A. cross section, longitudal section
Keilestraat 9B. cross section, longitudal section
Construction. exploded
Construction.
Detail. sliding door element
Detail. sliding door handle
paving, t. 10mm glue mortar, t. 4mm foil, t. 1mm glue mortar, t. 4mm penetration layer concrete layerreinforced with wire mesh, t. 73mm separating layer insulation ROCKWOOL STEPROCK, t. 60mm reinforced concrete structure, t. 150mm
perforated iron element iron beam, I 100
2xCD profiles plaster board paint
Detail 1. footbridge structure
paving, t. 10mm glue mortar, t. 4mm foil, t. 1mm glue mortar, t. 4mm penetration layer concrete layerreinforced with wire mesh, t. 73mm separating layer insulation ROCKWOOL STEPROCK, t. 60mm reinforced concrete structure, t. 150mm
concrete layer reinforced with wire mesh, t. 80mm separation layer insulation ROCKWOOL, t. 60mm monolith concrete layer, t. 250mm
Detail 2. attic
Marmoleum Walton, t. 3,5mm glue, t. 1,5mm penetration layer self-leveling layer, t. 5mm reinforced concrete layer with wire mesh, t. 80mm separating layer insulation ROCKWOOL STEPROCK, t. 60mm reinforced concrete structure, t. 150mm heat insulation XPS, t. 100mm
original brick layer, t. 240mm diffusion foil heat insulation XPS, t. 100mm vapor barrier void, 80mm plaster board, 2x12,5mm plaster, t. 10mm
Detail 3. window sill
stone ware, t. 70mm nonwoven geotextile waterproof insulation foil nonwoven geotextile heat insulation ISOVER in 1,5% slope, t. 100mm drainage foil, t. 8mm reinforced concrete structure, t. 150mm heat insulation XPS, t. 100mm plaster board, t. 12,5mm plaster, t. 10mm
original brick layer, t. 240mm diffusion foil heat insulation XPS, t. 100mm vapor barrier void, 80mm plaster board, 2x12,5mm plaster, t. 10mm
Detail 4. attic
PAVEL BOUSE _ ARCHITECTURE NL +31 6 45439098 CZ +420 608 261 730 bousepavel@gmail.com behance.net/bousepavel