City Hall Offices – Harderwijk
Harderwijk desired a city hall to serve as a vibrant, relaxed and central hub for all in their community to involve themselves in the rich history and happenings in their beautiful town.
ZENBER Architecten was commissioned to renovate and transform this city hall into a ‘House of the City’ located in Harderwijk, Netherlands.
As society develops and becomes increasingly digitized, the role of the City Hall is being transformed. More and more, the City Hall is becoming a place for residents, entrepreneurs, clubs and associations and for employees. An open and relaxed place to meet, where people feel welcome. A place where ideas and initiatives are developed and where people can find answers to their questions. A place that offers space for society: a work café, a library and places to read, space to learn and explore history and attend lectures in the council chamber. A meeting place with state-of-the-art services. Where residents come together and are connected to society.
In the public hall on the ground floor, an attractive and inviting ‘plaza’ is being created. This central meeting point serves a variety of functions and is home to the city service desk, a work café, the library, social and employment services, and other city partners.
The ‘plaza’ is a vibrant place for people to meet, clearly identifiable as the ‘House of the City’. Specific parts of this public area are deliberately multi-purpose and can be used for exhibitions (by the City Museum, for example) and events. Through this new interior, the municipality of Harderwijk aims to give a positive boost to its services and its hospitality.
The renovation of the City Hall marks a major step forward in sustainability improvement. The energy label has been increased from label E to label A+ as a result of the renovation. This has been achieved through additional insulation, modern mechanical and electrical systems, triple-glazing and the transition to completely LED lighting. Cold spots caused by thermal bridges have been resolved. As far as possible, existing furnishings have been reused and revitalised.
In addition, this House of the City has had some 1,000 m2 of new solar panels fitted on the roofs. For a building that dates from 1982, the transition from label E to label A+ is quite a remarkable achievement.
Harderwijk is beautifully situated by the waterside and has a rich history. The city, situated at the Zuiderzee at the time, joined the German Hanze. With the coming and going of merchants and commodities, there was plenty of activity in the city. Fisheries and linen industries have been important sources of income. Now, in the 21st century, the traces of this era are still visible. Some of the buildings are still there. The scenic inner city of Harderwijk was declared a protected cityscape in 1969 and contains a few hundred national monuments.
In order to make this rich history visible in the new work environment, we specially designed room dividers inspired by the fishing knots and designed graphic designs on glass films inspired by the significant national monuments of Harderwijk.
Design: ZENBER Architecten
Design Team: Eric Wezenberg, Edwin Kamphorst, Ingrid Heijne
Photography: Roos Aldershoff
