Course: ON6

The Bachelor of Architecture and the Built Environment at TU Delft ends with a design assignment for a large public building. In this case, this building was a sports college, a building in which a Sport degree can be offered.

The assignment had to take into account the program requirements, which included classrooms, sports halls, technical areas, etc. But also the aesthetics, the integration of the building in its surroundings, the climate design and the supporting structure.

There is already a building in the design area at present, this is the Nieuwe Maaskant. This building stands like a block in the area. It does not appear to be coherent with its surroundings. However, this building follows a much older form that was already there in the harbour era. I intended to bring back this form with my building, by stretching the New Maaskant. Then, in order to fit the programme requirements into it, extra blocks were docked into this elongated shape (this is where the title is based on), after which the basic shape was created.

What makes this building special is the different finishes of the different parts. The New Maas side has been kept intact externally, to preserve its history. The rest responds to this form language.

The red part, which follows the history and formal language of the area, is finished in red bricks, referring to the history of the harbour. It is placed on a transparent part that respects the transparency of the bottom of the Nieuwe Maaskant.

At the sports halls, the grey parts, a totally different design language has been used. These are designed as ribs placed on top of each other. This shape has two advantages, firstly there is no direct sunlight in the sports halls, this is a requirement. Second, it contrasts with the brick, historicising part. They are like new boats moored at an old harbour.

The roof ribs are positioned in the building’s grid, which has therefore also determined the size of the halls. To ensure a good architectural fit with the load-bearing structure, the design is quite substantial. An advantage of this is that the high insulation values expected of the gymnasiums could easily be met.

Facade fragment of two sport halls one above the other, with the ribs cut lengthwise.