Hessenberg / Hans van der Heijden Architect
Hessenberg / Hans van der Heijden Architect
Location
Hessenberg is a spot in the inner city of Nijmegen with a rich history which can be traced back to the Roman Occupation. In recent centuries the site has been occupied by monasteries and the regional newspaper De Gelderlander.
Bricks
Within a masterplan by Bob van Reeth four blocks were developed. They are randomly scattered over the project and sit on large shared underground parking garages. Hans van der Heijden based the design on plain facade principles. Anthracite engineering bricks form a solid plinth. The upper stories have a gridded facade. Horizontal lintels are juxtaposed by brick piers, between which sit recessed brickwork planes with window frames. The bricks of the upper floors are cream. All window frames are made of champagne coloured aluminum. At the upper floors these are supplied with a steel railing, in the plinth they are supplied with glass railings.
Description
The facades are akin to the architecture of Van Reeth. Each building has its own urban role in the ensemble. The typology of the buildings results in differences. The facade diagram is refined in each case and adjusted by varying the height of the plinth and width of the windows.
Hans van der Heijden closely collaborated with AWG and landscape architect MTD. The architectural imagery was not so much generated by strict city image planning or aesthetic supervision, but by an inspiring dialogue resulting in a lively urban fragment of the city of Nijmegen with natural differences in handwriting.
Awards
The Hessenberg has been extensively published in such magazines as De Architect, Architecture Today, Midcomfort, Bauwelt and Architectenweb Magazine. The project received the Municipal Architecture Award of Nijmegen 2911 and was nominated for the Fritz Högerpreis 2011.
Drawings
Extra info
Client:
Heijmans, Amstersfoort, NL
Design:
Hans van der Heijden Architect, Amsterdam, NL
Design team:
Hans van der Heijden, Theo van de Beek, Rogier Kant, Wiepkjen Kingma, Rick Wessels [biq]
