RAAMWEG 47, the Hague

RAAMWEG 47, the Hague Redevelopment of a vacant office building Employing architectonic elements with a focus on experience and sensual perception Eline Hoftiezer Technical University Delft Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences Mastertrack RMIT RMIT studio Mixed Projects Delft/The Hague Graduation plan ir. W.L.E.C. Meijers ir. W. Willers ir. F.W.A. Koopman Delft, January 6, 2014 Fig. 1| Raamweg 47 around 2001 (source: bing.com/maps) | 2 Raamweg 47, The Hague | Graduation Plan 01. Personal information that can (unconsciously) be understood through mere per- ceptual experience. An old building already has a history name Eline Hoftiezer and takes part in the context and people’s memories. Also, student number 4251784 the creative process of solving design problems frequently address Kanaalweg 24, 2628 EC, Delft leads to exciting design solutions that often would not be e-mail [email protected] considered when the building was built new. telephone number 0640249568 As graduation project I chose for the studio Mixed Pro- 02. Studio jects: Delft/The Hague, to work on a project in The Hague. I chose to graduate with this specific studio because first theme Experience and sensual of all, I like to work on an existing building (and preferably perception a building that is nearby and that I can visit often). Second- architecture ir. W. L. E. C. Meijers ly, we were allowed to select and choose our own project ir. W. Willers from the vacant office buildings in The Hague. Also, I wis- building technology ir. F. W. A. Koopman hed to work on a very relevant issue. The Hague currently copes with more than 800.000 square meters of vacant Throughout my bachelor in Architecture, Building and office space.3 Planning at Eindhoven University of Technology, I learned that I found working on a re-design for a building chal- From the selection of vacant office buildings in The Ha- lenging, but also much more interesting than designing a gue, which are all of considerable size (>10.000 square new structure. So for my masters I decided to study at the meters), vacant or soon to be and many of them are go- faculty of Architecture at Delft University of Technology, vernmental buildings, I chose for the building ensemble of with the R-MIT department. This specialisation focuses on the Raamweg 47 (fig. 1) as redevelopment assignment. gaining knowledge through design and research on trans- forming our existing building stock. The reason for choosing this building is primarily based on my positive first impressions and intuition. I am very The aspects that I very much appreciate about old buil- interested in place experience and sensual perception; dings are the care for detail and material, the visibility of these subjects are always at the core of my designs. De- handicraft, previous use, the imperfections, and its presen- signing for experience requires an understanding of the ce. The story the building tells is like observing a painting; identity and presence of the building. To feel some kind it is always a personal interpretation of the reality. (Reality of connection with the building is, in my opinion, crucial to in this sense is understood as a phenomenological reality, be able to make a good design. My interest for this buil- opposed to the modern scientific definition of reality as‘the ding was aroused by strong presence it conveys, due to state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an ide- the beautifully ivy-grown front facade constructed in brick alistic or notional idea of them’1. Phenomenological reality (in contrast to the surrounding green), the plasticity of the is that what is perceived in the mind, through the body, building volume (stepped in height and width) and by the before any thinking about it takes place in the intellect.2 quit open place that is enclosed by many trees, a ditch and a high fence, especially pleasant in contrast to the The complexity of a re-development assignment lies in the busy road. fact that the subject of study was initially built for a specific function. Re-development often requires radical trans- 03. Problem statement formation to house a new function. Next to this, several changes have to be made to adapt the building to the cur- The main building was a former Jesuit institute for Ca- rent building regulations. These demands for change are tholic boys age 12-18, built in 1927 in a cloistral building not always compatible with the existing structure, and the typology that is typical for active congregations. It has un- building can therefore be at risk of losing its characteristic dergone many changes and additions since construction. elements. It is a very interesting challenge because the This has to do with the change in users: it was claimed by building offers a palpable starting-point. It has a presence the German occupation in 1940, in use by CRI (the police division of the ministry of Justice) from 1945 and taken over by Europol (European Police Office) in 1995. The pe- 1. Oxford English Dictionary of Current English, Oxford University Press, 2005. 2. McCrea, J. J. Truth in Philosophy. 2013, from sites.google.com/site/ 3. According to Stephan Bekx, Urban Development, Municipality The truthinphilosophy/scientific-vs-phenomenological-reality. Hague. | 3 riod from World War II is marked by the enhanced security the current economic climate. Then there is the challenge measures that were necessary for the several authorities to develop the building, adjusting it for the new function, that occupied the building. Alterations can be found in the second life and to the current building regulations, without building structure, in the building ensemble, for example: losing the elements that make this building special and in 1942 a bunker and Atlantikwall were added (both re- valuable to transform. Summarizing the problems on the main the latter just partially) and the whole became part different scale levels, the biggest assignments are to res- of the coastal fortifications system as defence against an tructure the interior and the ensemble, define the cultural anticipated Allied invasion. and historical interest of the bunker and Atlantikwall for the city and the location, and redefine the boundaries and pre- On several scale levels there are challenges for the re- sence of the plot. development of this building. Much quality can be obtain- ed on the scale level of the interior. Several hallways and 04. P o s i t i o n some rooms are rather dark, the floor height is a bit low due to the lowered ceilings, the internal structure is not My interest in architecture lies in how people experience very organised, the spaces are outdated (carpet, strange space, and how I as an architect can create spaces that corners and partition walls, small rooms), there’s single lead to a positive experience. Places with, for example, a glazing and the building’s energy consumption is high. sense of time, changing light, spacious; for the mind and The energy performance certificate shows that the buil- the body to wander about, subtle use of colour and materi- ding scores very low (an E on a scale of A to G). als, or places that make people aware of their experience. “Only architecture can simultaneously awaken all the sen- Looking at the exterior scale level, several changes have ses.”4, wrote Steven Holl in Questions of Perception: Phe- been made through time in the facade. Several windows nomenology of Architecture. are filled in with brickwork, the chapel windows were replaced by the regular windows, and dormers were added Experience is the result of “perception and reflection”5 , ex- or replaced in a different style. Other possible problems are plained by the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty the introvert character of the facade and the very different (1908-1961). External stimuli are captured by the senses, expressions and materials used for the added building vo- processed into cognitive information and interpreted, in- lumes. These additions of building volumes have lead to a fluenced by associations, memories and the context, or strange typology. The ensemble has some characteristics the place of thought. Our built environment influences our of cloistral typology, L-shaped typology and a closed buil- experience, for it is a large part of our context and place ding block with inner courtyard. Also, the added building of thought. In The Eyes of the Skin, the Finnish architect parts are built on the same grid, but have a different logic, Juhani Pallasmaa (1963) explains: “Architecture reflects, order and appearance. They seem carelessly connected materialises and eternalises ideas and images of ideal life. by the glass volumes that just fill the residual space bet- Buildings and towns enable us to structure, understand ween the eldest building parts and the additions. Another and remember the shapeless flow of reality and, ultimate- challenge is how to give a place to the bunker and the ly, to recognise and remember who we are.”6 remaining part of the Atlantikwall in the design, as valuable objects from a cultural/historical point of view. The Danish architect and urban planner Steen Eiler Ras- mussen (1898-1990) writes in Experiencing Architecture Lastly, the building is quite excluded from its surroundings. (1964) about the art of architecture. “Architecture is not Alongside the front side of the building runs a busy road, produced by adding plans and sections to elevations. It next to it is a channel. Only very few bridges cross the is something else and something more. It is impossible water, and the exit of the fly-over blocks the sight.

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