04 2016
April 2016
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26/04 2016

KAAN Architecten designs new Tilburg University building

KAAN Architecten and VORM will be building a large new campus building at the University of Tilburg. With the Education and Self-Study Centre (OZC), comprising a floor area of 11,000 square meters, the university aims to provide better facilities for students and therefore further increase the quality of education. Works will be complete by the autumn of 2017.

The design of the OZC by KAAN Architecten has a square shape and is relatively low, like several other buildings on the campus. This ensures a good fit within the surroundings and among the trees. Yet it also differs significantly from the square central university building, the Cobbenhagen, formerly the Catholic Economics College that became the first university building in the early 1960s. Designed by architect Jos Bedaux (1910-1989), this closed edifice pulls the outlying landscape into the interior through two patios. The building by KAAN Architecten however, is nestled in the landscape. Ample daylight and quite marked openness with radical views through the structure make the building merge with its environment. The study spaces are enclosed in a green setting, as an opening in the woods.

The OZC will support all faculties within the university and so will be continuously busy with up to 2500 students and educators all connected to each other thanks to the new building spaces. In order to safeguard its openness and avoid feeling crowded, the building has been given extra berth. All the spaces, including the corridors, are wide, light and tall – up to six meters high. The plans include a large number of study coves and group areas of different dimensions, as well as various lecture rooms that will be equipped with all the necessary IT and communication tools. The auditorium has been given a central and sunken position so that the building retains transparent passages from one end to another.

In collaboration with KAAN Architecten and VORM, the consortium that obtained the contract also includes Pieters Bouwtechniek, J. van Toorenburg BV, Bosch Slabbers, Buro Bouwfysica, OPPS, ABT, A.de Jong Installatietechniek, Steegman Electrotechniek, De Groot & Visser BV, Oranjedak, GWS dé schoonmaker and Caspar de Haan Groep.

Construction will commence in the end of 2016.

 

project name: OZC (Education and Self-Study Center)

location: campus Tilburg University (The Netherlands)

client: Tilburg University

programme: auditorium, lecture rooms, tutorial rooms, meeting rooms, restaurant, exam rooms, lounge area

architect: KAAN Architecten (Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen, Dikkie Scipio)

design team: Alejandro Gonzáles Pérez, Martina Margini, Kevin Park, Maria Stamati, Yiannis Tsoskounoglou, Noëmi Vos, Yang Zhang

design: 2016

start construction: end of 2016

delivery: December 2017

GFA: 11.000 sqm

main contractor: VORM

project management: VORM

advisor water installations: A de Jong Installatietechniek

advisor electrical installations: Steegman Installatietechniek

advisor construction: Pieters Bouwtechniek

advisor technical installations: J van Toorenburg Installatieadviseur

advisor fire and acoustics: Buro Bouwfysica

sustainability: ABT

quality management: OPPS

landscape: Bosch Slabbers

visualization: Beauty & The Bit

22/04 2016

Book: De Hoge Raad der Nederlanden

Photographer Dominique Panhuysen has recently released the book “De Hoge Raad der Nederlanden – under construction”, a collection of photographs taken during 25 construction months of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.

In early 2014, KAAN Architecten asked Dominique Panhuysen to follow the construction of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands in The Hague, confident that her peculiar view would have offered an insightful documentation of the building process. Focusing her attention on people, traces of life and gesture, this voluminous compound is able to depict, at the same time, the beauty and the roughness of this high court complex.

DSC_3618 copy2

Dominique Panhuysen is a photographer and visual artist. She has a keen eye for the extraordinary of the ordinary. A prominent feature of her oeuvre is to capture and document everyday situations. The materials and subjects generally appearing in her work are found casually, during daily explorations. Her photography projects often consider series, spanning over several years.

To browse the book, follow this link.

The book is available as a paperback 38x30cm/320 pages, with ISBN 978-90-324843-1-1, published by KAAN Architecten.

For more info please contact dominique.panhuysen@online.nl.

 

18/04 2016

The Power of Architecture

On Friday April 22, 2016, starting from 6 PM, at Garage Rotterdam, Kees Kaan (KAAN Architecten) and Bjarne Hammer (Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects) will present the new projects of high court buildings just completed in The Hague: the Supreme Court of the Netherlands and the International Criminal Court. The lectures will be followed by a public debate moderated by Salomon Frausto.

Two distinguished high courts have just been built in the city of The Hague (NL):
• the Supreme Court of the Netherlands on Korte Voorhout, designed by KAAN Architecten (Rotterdam, NL)
• the International Criminal Court on the corner between Oude Waalsdorperweg and Van Alkemadelaan, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects (Copenhagen, DK)

 

Constitutional law usually requires that court proceedings, and therefore the court buildings as well, are open to the public. Openness must be guaranteed by providing a suitably accessible location in an urban environment and by ensuring appropriate security measures. Additionally, these buildings must also offer sheltered environments allowing comfortable working conditions. The buildings need to be both inviting and secured, with separate routes and accessibility for the public, the judges and the defendants. Can these seemingly contradictory requisites coincide architecturally in an appealing and contemporary way? Queries about the power of architecture can also extend to further issues. A classical building exhibiting a personified Justitia on its pediment is easily identified as a courthouse, however this does not necessarily give expression to state democracy. In these times of terrorism, can the Rechtsstaat (Rule of Law) find an appropriate interpretation through contemporary architectural methods?

 

Garage Rotterdam, Goudsewagenstraat 27, Rotterdam
Friday April 22nd, 2016
18:00 – 21:30
Free entrance

programme:
18:00 opening and welcome speech
18:40 Kees Kaan introduces the Supreme Court of the Netherland, The Hague
19:00 Bjarne Hammer introduces the International Criminal Court, The Hague
19:20 the moderator will animate a debate with the speakers and the public
20:00 drinks

 

Supreme Court of the Netherlands
As the highest court of law in the land, the Supreme Court passes researched and reasoned judgements on everyday affairs in civil society. It is a public institution that supports a state based on justice and integrity, and is at the same time an organisation that operates in retreat in order to formulate well-grounded rulings and findings. The dualities of the Supreme Court on several levels, the real-world yet also fragile aspects, the public yet also closed character – these were used as a source of inspiration for the design.
A majestic gateway is formed by the plane trees of the royal route and the row of six bronze statues of legal scholars. This space flows over into the entrance hall of the building. The inviting hall and its courtrooms seem to have been chiselled from a solid block of stone. It serves as a sturdy base for a superstructure of glass panels and slender steel latticework. Distinguished and functional, heavy and light, sturdy and refined – all exist alongside routine business, on which rulings are passed with great clarity of mind. With light wells over centrally located atriums, the interior achieves the elegance of an urban palace, appropriate to the status of the Supreme Court.

KAAN_Supreme Court of the Netherlands

 

International Criminal Court
The ICC is not just a building or a headquarter, in every aspect it has integrated the security that is required of one of the most secured buildings in the world, either built into the landscape or within the building itself. It is a statement of an independent architecture, open-minded and accessible.
The new permanent premises appear as a sculptural abstraction, a composition of six volumes, firmly anchored to the site and rising from the surrounding dune landscape. The tallest of the volumes is the Court Tower that rises up as a green element. The architectural idea is to continue the cultivated parterre gardens from the ground floor level, as a cladding on the Court Tower. Historically, gardens have always existed as part of all cultures and all religions. With flowers and plants from each of the regional groups of states, the parterre garden rises up as a symbol of unity, regardless of nationality and culture. The remaining volumes, the office towers, are draped in a tapestry grid, almost like embroidery.

SHL_International Criminal Court

15/04 2016

KAAN Architecten to design New Amsterdam Court House

KAAN Architecten is part of the New Amsterdam Court House (NACH) consortium that will be implementing the Amsterdam Court House Project. The Central Government Real Estate Agency (Rijksvastgoedbedrijf) has provisionally selected the consortium for this Public Private Partnership (PPP). Following contract award, KAAN Architecten will be given a share in the design of the court house. The value of the DBFMO project is € 235 million (including a 30-year management and maintenance contract). Final contract award is expected to occur on 10 May 2016.

Design, construct and operate 

A special purpose company will be created for the implementation of the project with Macquarie Capital as the sole shareholder. KAAN Architecten, together with a/o ABT, Heijmans and Facilicom, will form a combination that will design, construct and operate the court house. Demolition work for the construction of the new court house along the Zuidas in Amsterdam is expected to commence at the beginning of 2017. The court house is expected to be occupied in November 2020. The 30-year operating period will commence once the building has been occupied.

NACH Consortium
The NACH Consortium is initiated by Macquarie Capital, ABT, DVP, KAAN Architecten, BiUM, and Bouwbedrijf M.J. de Nijs & Zonen. Additionally, the consortium has been extended with Heijmans and Facilicom.

Read the official announcement

08/04 2016

KAAN awarded assignment “Renovation and Extension” of Museum Paleis Het Loo

Museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn has awarded the assignment of the Renovation and Extension to KAAN Architecten in Rotterdam. After a careful procedure, the architect selection committee, under the chairmanship of Chief Government Architect Floris Alkemade, unanimously selected this plan. At the end of the year, the final design will be presented and there will then be clarity about the exact planning and costs.

Museum Director Michel van Maarseveen about this choice:
‘As museum, we are very pleased that KAAN Architects presented a draft design that fully matches our wishes and ambitions and respects the historic palace complex. The underground extension has considerable allure and is both hospitable and functional.’

Architect Dikkie Scipio:
‘We explicitly sought for a form with which we, without competing with the monument, could highlight the grandeur of museum Paleis Het Loo in a surprising way and extend it further. I am delighted that the selection committee has acknowledged this fact.’

Museum Paleis Het Loo will be ‘open at revised times’ during the Renovation and Extension. The renovation covers the replacement of technical installations, climate-control installations and the removal of asbestos. While this major repair is taking place, an underground extension to Paleis Het Loo will be created. This extension will provide more space for temporary exhibitions and the large-scale collection will be presented better. The facilities for the public will also be improved.

photo © Rob Voss

06/04 2016

KAAN Architecten signs the Supreme Court of the Netherlands

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands has been designed by KAAN Architecten as the entry of an international Public Private Competition (Publiek Private Samenwerking – PPS) won in 2012 by Poort van Den Haag, the consortium made up of BAM PPP B.V., PGGM, BAM Bouw en Techniek B.V., ISS Nederland B.V. and KAAN Architecten.

The building, which measures 18.000 m2 and houses a staff of 350, is located in the elegantly historic city center of The Hague. It is situated along the Korte Voorhout, a royal route connecting several institutional buildings to the Parliament building, and adjacent to Malieveld park; in this location the new design, with the measured vibrancy of its facades, interacts with the trees across the street announcing the city gateway.

The main entrance is flagged by six bronze statues of legal scholars seated on pedestals, with a single pane of glass subtly marking the transition from the street to the interior. The transparency of the building signifies both accessibility to the public as well as the soundness and clarity of judgment.

The entrance hall (where the courtrooms and the press room are located) forms the public area; it has double height ceilings that span the full length of the building. The floors and walls are of a light grey limestone that exudes a velvety texture. The large and small courtrooms, which hold 400 and 80 visitors respectively, are distinguished by brown-veined translucent alabaster walls. In the middle of the entrance hall, in between the two courtrooms, hangs the artwork “Hoge Raad” by Dutch painter Helen Verhoeven. It was commissioned specially for the Supreme Court.

The upper floors accommodate offices, a library with study places, a restaurant, and council and meeting chambers. Daylight permeates the building through several skylights, forming the core of the distinct domains of the Council (Raad) and Procurator General Office (Parket). The two departments are identified by the use of different materials: a vertically striped Marmara Equator marble in the Council, and an organic Skyline marble in the Procurator General Office area. At the circumference of the openings each floor has pantries with coffee machines, seating, and bookcases. The light, the sightlines throughout the space, and the open perspective inspire social interaction, encourage the exchange of ideas and opinions, and allows for informal gatherings.

Three sides of the building are exposed to sun over the course of a day. These facades are climate controlled through the use of a spacious cavity in the glass casings: glass boxes that not only keep out the heat and cold, but also the sound of traffic outside. Nonetheless, the windows can be opened if desired, while the sun blinds and light filters can also be individually regulated. This controlled double protection produces a layered facade, flat and yet canted, a subtle nuance that adds even more elegance to the whole.

 

On Saturday April 23rd – 2016, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands will welcome visitors on the occasion of its first open day.

 

Location: Korte Voorhout 8, The Hague (The Netherlands)

Client: Rijksvastgoedbedrijf

Architect: KAAN Architecten (Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen, Dikkie Scipio)

Design team: Allard Assies, Luca Baialardo, Christophe Banderier, Bas Barendse, Dennis Bruijn, Timo Cardol, Sebastian van Damme, Marten Dashorst, Luuk Dietz, Willemijn van Donselaar, Paolo Faleschini, Raluca Firicel, Michael Geensen, Cristina Gonzalo Cuairán, Joost Harteveld, Walter Hoogerwerf, Michiel van der Horst, Marlon Jonkers, Jan Teunis ten Kate, Marco Lanna, Giuseppe Mazzaglia, Ana Rivero Esteban, Joeri Spijkers, Koen van Tienen, Noëmi Vos

Design phase: December 2012 – January 2014

Construction phase: September 2013 – January 2016

Contractor: Consortium Poort van Den Haag: BAM PPP B.V., PGGM, BAM Bouw en Techniek B.V., ISS Nederland B.V. and KAAN Architecten

Structural engineering: Arup Nederland

Electrical engineering: BAM Bouw en Techniek

Mechanical engineering: Arup Nederland

Site supervision: KAAN Architecten, BAM Bouw en Techniek

Constructor mechanical + electrical installations: BAM Bouw en Techniek

Fire, comfort, acoustics, security: DGMR

Spatial acoustics: Level Acoustics

Building control: CBB

Parking advisor: Wim van Vlierden

Site area: 2.500 m2

Total floor area: 18.000 m2 (including underground parking)

Cost: 59.000.000 € (realisation)

Artwork: “Hoge Raad” (oil on canvas, 400 x 647 cm, 2015) by Helen Verhoeven

04/04 2016

Archeological findings in the garden of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts

First results of the archeological digs in the garden of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp (KMSKA) show the exact location and the state of preservation of the ancient citadel of Alva. 

Underneath the museum site, archeologists found the Fernando bastion, one of the five ones belonging to the old citadel, and the flank of the main wall made of bricks and stone is now lying bare. Archeological finds include the bastion’s gun emplacement, a discovery that enrich the understanding of Antwerp’s military past.

The excavation will be carried out along with the renovation works of the museum.

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts will open its doors in 2019.

hoofdpoort_citadel_(stadsarchief_antwerpen)

kmska_archeologie-5807-8-9

photo © Karin Borghouts