Zwolle Weezenlandstaete
Large and small through a single detail Fulcrum of an open city This location can be seen as a junction between diverse fragments of the city of Zwolle’s built environment. The site lies at the transition between the city centre, an area of 19th century urban expansion and a district typified by large-scale buildings dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as a church, a hospital and the seat of the provincial government. The architectural concept was determined by these factors. The shift from
Commissioner Vof Weezenlandstaete
Square metres 14.000 m²
Builder Meijering & Benus
Construction costs Office € 5.900.000 Garage € 4.500.000
Project architect Marco Romano Rudy Uytenhaak
Start design 1999
narrow streets to broad thoroughfares, and from larger buildings (such as in the Luttenbergstraat) to smaller ones (for example on the Assendorperdijk) is reflected in the new building. So while the office block on the Luttenberg straat has the character of a ‘big building’, its parking garage is designed in visually smaller units. The office block is a unique variation on the standard theme of an office with a central corridor, which has been adapted to fit in with the parking garages by occasionally omitting spaces, as if the building had been pinched in a clamp, or on the other hand by making the building deeper where the site also deepens. In this way the car parking space has been harmonised with its surrounding, while simultaneously achieving an interesting spatial development in the office block itself. The upper storeys are slightly rotated in relation to each other, so that the transition between the narrower Assendorperstraat and the wider Luttenbergstraat is reflected in the building. By means of a flexible outer boundary the building is pinched inwards on the side facing the church, while it broadens out on the side facing the provincial government building. A single lithe detail of the profile provides the linking element in this elegant and charming gradual shift. By making the exterior facades alternately hang outwards and then jump back the building becomes expressive, and its interior columns accentuate this movement. The slight curve of the street reinforces this expression still further. What is more, the entrances to the garage and the offices in particular are so constructed that they draw the viewer’s attention. Both facades are designed using a minimum of separate elements, so that purely the contrasting treatment of the two sections of the building brings about a fascinating experience of interplay. The parking garage is made up of a series of car lifts and parking spaces, which are clad in an array of solar panels. Because of the unique character of this garage (only the ground floor is accessible to the public), special attention has been paid to the design of its entrances and exits. Visual artist Mirjam Bakker has devised a design which banishes the usual negative associations of such a space, to replace them with a feeling of pleasant surprise.
Design team Titia Jansen Jan Olthuis Kees Stoffels John Zondag Sort Office and parking (360pp)
Completion 2004-2005
Situation
groundplans
development in section