Rijkswaterstaat Head Office

From http://www.archdaily.com/138092/rijkswaterstaat-head-office-24h-architecture/

Quick! What do you think of when you hear this phrase: underwater ghost moose?

From http://www.archdaily.com/138092/rijkswaterstaat-head-office-24h-architecture/

If your answer was “public works,” congratulations, you’re either a Dutch architect or think like them (24H Architecture, to be precise). They designed this building in Assen for Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch agency in charge of roads and waterways. This building has a lot of things that I really like and a few blaring deficiencies. We’ll start on the outside and work our way in.

From http://www.archdaily.com/138092/rijkswaterstaat-head-office-24h-architecture/

I don’t understand the complete lack of landscaping. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be some sort of pervious, green parking lot (since it appears to be a suburban location without the amenities of a real city), but you would think there would at least be some sod or something, especially on the mound that surrounds the building itself. Maybe it’s just not done, but then that raises the question, why would you send in the photographer when the project isn’t finished?

From http://www.archdaily.com/138092/rijkswaterstaat-head-office-24h-architecture/

The south facade, while brutal even by the architect’s assessment, is very interesting. I feel like it fits for a group that builds roads. The pattern on the side suggests to me a chevron, representing speed, and the alignment and spacing of the windows almost looks like cars and trucks on a busy street. The areas between the chevrons have a very rough surface, and the stated intent of the architect was that these areas would eventually fill in with moss, which would greatly soften the look of this wall.

From http://www.archdaily.com/138092/rijkswaterstaat-head-office-24h-architecture/

The north facade, by contrast, is much softer. Though there is a similar nihilism to the windows, something that Nikos Salingaros would be bothered by, the facade is soft wood, and almost looks like it would be more in place in a Finnishforest than on the side of a Dutch highway. The waving lines in front of the main part of the facade suggest the presence of water, the other main concern for the bureau. I really like the way these two facades work together. While the concrete suggests modernism and strength, the wood suggests softness, nature, and tradition. While I would much rather live in an all wood house than an all concrete one, I think that this building does a good job of taking the best of what concrete has to offer and making it fit comfortably with the wood.

From http://www.archdaily.com/138092/rijkswaterstaat-head-office-24h-architecture/

I like the entrance. First of all, I think its good that they took the time to consider a ramp and integrate it into the design, rather than as an afterthought. I really like the steps that are filled with gravel and hope that they are fully permeable, and don’t just have concrete underneath them, which would frustrate the sustainability goals of the developer.

From http://www.archdaily.com/138092/rijkswaterstaat-head-office-24h-architecture/

On the inside, the space opens up, with group workstations on the north wall and offices on the south, with a large open space in the middle. The wood is continued within, but generally lighter, which is appropriate for an interior. This space shows the different ways that wood can be employed, both as flooring, sheathing and structural elements. In some parts of the interior, the walls are decorated with aquatic or foliage patterns (both in blue, for some reason). The central space is made up of a fairly grand, three-tiered staircase. I will say that I find it attractive, but I wonder about its functionality. Will it have plants on it? Will it be a meeting space? If so, what elements would be necessary to make it safe? Is it just to be left as-is?

From http://www.archdaily.com/138092/rijkswaterstaat-head-office-24h-architecture/

One thing that appears in some places is the interplay between detail surfaces, such as the wood that sheathes a lot of the interior, and the blank, yellow-green surfaces in some part. In some cases, blank spaces play well with the detail found in natural surfaces, such as on the white spaces next to the doors in the picture above, which almost have sort of a space-age feel. But to cover large expanses of wall with a single color and no manner of detailing, it just gets boring. It looks naked. It looks like you meant to put up pictures, but never got around to it. The kitchen in this building looks particularly bare. But who knows, maybe that’s where the motivational posters will go when this place is actually in use.

By the way, I just searched “underwater ghost moose” on Google, and got no results.

Appologies and Bernts Have Daycare Center

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted.  Grad school is harder than I was expecting, and takes up more of my time than I would have thought.  While my undergrad was easy enough to breeze through and still have plenty of time to update the old blog at least once a month, Penn is considerably more demanding.  Also, I wish at this point that I would have spent more time on my long Christmas break working on the blog, but I mostly spent it loafing about watching Mythbusters back at home in Pittsburgh.  But now I am back in Philadelphia, it is the last day of break before classes, and I have finally taken the initiative to work on the blog again.  Let’s hope I can get at least a few posts in here before Workshop kicks my butt later this semester, as I have been assured it will.

from http://www.archdaily.com/85118/bernts-have-daycare-center-henning-larsen-architects/

I actually found this building a few months ago, but it has taken me forever to actually write about it, and after this post is done I will finally be able to close those two tabs on my Firefox.  This is Elverhøj, the daycare center and kindergarten at Bernts Have, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Holbæk, Denmark, by Henning Larsen Architects.  It is comprised of the nursery in the southern wing and kindergarten in the northern wing, with administrative offices linking them.  It bursts out of the hilly terrain to the South and West, opening towards a small lake, the rest of the city, and the sun.

There are a lot of things I really like about this building.  It is very well integrated into its landscape, both in how it juts out of the hillside, how its green roof helps it blend in, and how the play areas are landscaped.

from http://www.archdaily.com/85118/bernts-have-daycare-center-henning-larsen-architects/

The landscaping has a mix of more manicured and more natural areas mixed in with the play spaces and hills to provide a wide variety of play and teaching opportunities for the children.  The landscaping doesn’t end outside the building, but is integrated within it as well.

from http://www.archdaily.com/85118/bernts-have-daycare-center-henning-larsen-architects/

Corridors in the areas between the south-facing windows and the inner rooms provide both a temperature buffer and added greenery, and are heated in Spring and Fall, providing the kids with a play place that is neither inside nor outside.  The plan shows how the layout of the building provides some sustainable solutions.

from http://www.archdaily.com/85118/bernts-have-daycare-center-henning-larsen-architects/

keep in mind that the section between the wings runs north-south, so north is not up in the picture above, but slightly up and far to the left (I spent a lot of time picking up my laptop and turning it around to figure that out, and I’m hoping I wasn’t the only person confused by this).  What this does is it allows the two long, narrow wings to get light and heat that they wouldn’t both get if they were right next to each other in a more blockey structure.  In the morning, there is even light in the administrative section.  The playground to the south is very sunny all day and all year round.  In cold climates like Denmark, it is important to use the sun to the greatest extent possible to achieve sustainability and minimize heating and lighting costs.  The green roof also provides greater insulation, while providing space for vegetation.

Another thing that I like about this structure is the fact that there is a railing, which you can see in the image above and at top.  I’m not sure why it doesn’t extend all the way to the edges of the roof, because there’s plenty of play area there and it almost tempts the more adventurous kids to hop the fence.  Maybe there were considerations about noise that were involved, I don’t know.  But it does allow for at least part of the roof to be used as a play area, just as any grassy area on the ground would be used.  The small detail of this railing is something that, at least here at Penn, seems to be left out of architectural designs.  I have seen mid-rise buildings designed with exterior facing entrances with no railings.  If they were to be built, it would be a matter of minutes before balls, pets and children were flying off the higher stories into traffic.  While railings aren’t sexy or artistic, they are sensible, and it is important to find good ways to integrate them.