J.C. van den Elshout

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Master thesis (1)

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Maastricht Heritage Center

Master thesis (2021) - J.C. van den Elshout , W.L.E.C. Meijers , F.W.A. Koopman , W.J. Quist , S.J.T. Jansen

As part of the Heritage and Architecture studio, the Vacant Heritage project was offered. An adaptive re-use assignment in which a former Vroom & Dreesmann department store is researched and then designed with. In a broader context, this graduation studio is aimed at finding ways to redevelop the existing stock of architecture, while keeping in mind a large variety of social, practical and sustainable aspects in mind. It asks the student to think about how they can be part of a change, both in the architectural object itself as the way designers approach the ever limited supply of resources available. For this graduation project, the former Vroom & Dreesmann in Maastricht was first researched andthen designed with. A former department store that has grown and shrunk throughout its existence. In 1932 the first part of the store was built. A building with a monumental façade designed by Dutch architect Jan Kuijt. In its presence at the Grote Staat in the historic city its center, the building has expanded twice (in the 1960’s and the 1970’s) and was divided into two department stores in 2002. Within the research approach of the ‘Touch and Feel’ under supervision of Wido Quist, a research was conducted examining the façade its materiality and its relation to the surroundings. By researching how the façade becomes part of the relation between the public, semi-public and private space, a better understanding of the possibilities for the redesign of the building was created.The proposed design and program is aimed at a broad target audience, including tourists and local residents. The new program of the building offers the public leisure activities while simultaneously serving an educational purpose. With its mixture of different functions (a wine experience center, a museum and a cooking workshop space), the local traditions and heritage of the city of Maastricht and its surroundings are presented to the public in an interactive way. The architecture of the building itself contributes to this interactive learning experience by being an integral part of the story that is told within the building.