Field 1.6 is part of the new suburb ‘Vathorst’, at the edge of the city of Amersfoort. It is located along an old inroad to the city. Five villas and a three-story apartment building have been realised here.
The new Park of Caspar Wittelplantsoen in Amersfoort connects the new building of the Soesterkwartier along Puntenburgerlaan with the existing buildings and acts as a green meeting place for both old and new residents. The ambition is, on a relatively small area, to create an abundance of green. This is achieved by placing a large amount of new trees and grassy plains as the basis for the establishment of the park.
The new Meander Medical Centre in Amersfoort is a completely new type of hospital. In this impressive health care institution the patient remains central and the connection with the surrounding nature is strongly felt throughout the building. This creates a healing environment where – partly thanks to the inclusion of only private rooms – patients can gain more rest for a fast recovery. Despite its size of more than 100,000 m², it’s a hospital where people can easily find their way around. At the end of 2013, the first patients were welcomed into this spacious, light-filled hospital.
Design: Hans van Beek with Mark Bruin, Jeroen Ekama, Paul Fouchier, Emile Jansen, Menno Roefs
Interior architect: Hans van Beek, Wessel Reinders, Ellen Vaal, Elisabeth Tukker, Thijs Klinkhamer ism Kleurmerk (Erna Tielen)
Design duo competition: Hans van Beek ism Dorte Kristensen en Christina Kaiser
Project leader: Hein Doeksen, Mark Homminga and Ernstjan Cornelis.
Design team: Mira van Beek, Ido de Boer, Roel Buijs, Mart Buter, Antonio Cannavacciuolo, Diana van Dongen, Michel van Gageldonk, Corine Jongejan, Priet Jokhan, Christina Kaiser, Hans Kalkhoven, Arthur Loomans, Mattijs van Lopik, Marjon Main, Cock van Meurs, Katarzyna Nowak, Paul Olink, Andrew Page, Emile Quanjel, Ferry Raedts, Sandrine Rointru, Arie van der Toorn, Felix Timmermans, Tobias Thoen, Paul Verhaar, Robert Witteman, Wais Wardak.
Landscape designer: Hans van Beek and Bruno Doedens (DS Landschapsarchitecten)
Bouwdirectie: Meander Medisch Centrum, Heijmans, Ballast Nedam en atelier PRO
Costs exper: atelier PRO and At Osborne
Contract documents: atelier PRO
General contractor: 2MC3 (Meander Combinatie VOF): Heijmans Bouw, Ballast Nedam en Heijmans Utiliteit (voorheen Burgers Ergon).
Costs:
Meander Medisch Centrum: € 195.000.000
Centrum: € 9.000.000
Interior MMC: € 6.651.620
Garage: € 947.970
College: All amounts excluding vat, remunerations, costs of the land, layout, connecting costs; inclusive risk of price increases, wages, materials, delivery a price level.
The composition of buildings has a clear structure similar to a village with a main avenue and public squares from which all ‘houses’ of the hospital can be accessed. Starting from the entrance, the avenue forms the central axis of the floor plan. All public areas in the building are visible and accessible from this spine. Bordering the avenue are three prominent glass-covered ‘squares’: De Brink and De Foyer to the right and De Oranjerie to the left. Public facilities such as the restaurant, pharmacy, auditorium, and waiting rooms function as additional landmarks for orientation.
The aim is to provide a humane environment for people, who are already under immense stress, to comfortably stay. Furthermore, it involves more than the patients. Visitors and, importantly, hospital staff should feel at ease and be able to navigate their way. Generous open spaces were planned between buildings to allow the landscape to penetrate into the building; as a result daylight can enter deep into the complex and the surrounding nature is always visible. Daylight, nature and good wayfinding are essential elements that help determine the wellbeing of people. A warm natural material, timber is widely used in the public spaces and patient rooms while glass is used throughout for daylight and views.
The wards in this new hospital were designed in an innovative way to provide maximum privacy and comfort for patients. Every patient has his or her own private room equipped with a bathroom and large sliding door that can be moved so that the level of privacy can be personally adjusted. The rooms face onto a wide, wedge-shaped lounge created for patients, visitors and staff. Computer desks are also provided along with a pantry for making coffee and tea. The lounge ends with a panoramic window that affords daylight and views into the surroundings. This arrangement avoids the use of old-fashioned long corridors and, furthermore, allows people to navigate their way around the ward more intuitively. By providing social amenities, patients are encouraged to get quickly back on their feet again.
The clinics are situated to the right of the avenue in a series of individual buildings organised like outspread fingers in the landscape. Here the focus lies on flexibility. As in an empty office building shell, the clinics can be flexibly arranged according to the required needs. Future extensions are possible via the addition of extra wings into the fingered structure. To accommodate the large numbers of patients and visitors that frequent this part of the building, large atriums – named Brink and Foyer – were created between these fingers. Waiting happens as much as possible in these voluminous, light-filled squares where the dining facilities are also located: here, the wait doesn’t feel so eternal.
The key to creating a good atmosphere in a healthcare environment lies in good logistics. Throughout the complex, the ‘hospital machine’ is hidden as much as possible from the sight of patients and visitors. This was made possible by elevating the building on a mound inside which the logistics services are concentrated. Here, the logistics corridor connects all the goods lifts from the wards as well as the clinics with the logistics hub. In this way, hospital supplies can be replenished 24 hours a day without the patient or visitor ever noticing. As the logistics hubs are always hidden behind, the goods are never moved through the departments. In addition, patients are brought to surgery along a separate route from visitors.
The Eemhuis combines a number of existing cultural institutes in the city of Amersfoort: the city library, the exposition center, the heritage archives and a school for dance, music and visual arts. It is located on an urban redevelopment area close to the city center.
Tags: Amersfoort, The Netherlands Comments Off on LIBRARY, MUSEUM AND ART SCHOOL “EEMHUIS” in Amersfoort, The Netherlands by Neutelings Riedijk Architects
The Flehite Museum, although modest in floor area, treats its visitors to magnificent historical and contemporary works of art. In Amersfoort, Flehite is a big name, but despite this fame, the museum remains true to its setting: everything it presents through its permanent displays and changing exhibitions is dedicated to the (art) history of Amersfoort. A city, which is celebrating its 750th anniversary this year! Opposite the museum building is the Mannenzaal (Men’s Ward), the only remains of a late medieval hospital in the Netherlands, where the sick and elderly were cared for. It now is a prominent part of the Flehite where changing special exhibitions can be visited.
A protestant church community in a 1960’s neighbourhood of Amersfoort decided, because of decreasing numbers of parishioners, to fuse with another church community. To make a new start the church government decided to sell one of the church buildings and give the other church building a radical transformation.
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