Revalued Shelter: Botanic Archive and Research Centre
Heritage Intervention of Soesterberg Airbase
Z. Zhang (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
W.L.E.C. Meijers – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
T.P. Bennebroek – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
This project explores the reuse of the Cold War aircraft shelters at Soesterberg Airbase by transforming them into a Botanic Archive and Research Centre. Originally, these shelters were constructed for defense purposes due to the likelihood of war. They have strong concrete walls, a sealed system, and strict entry regulations, indicating a sense of protection and endurance. Although their military functions are no longer necessary, the architectural features still exist and are considered valuable heritage.
Instead of establishing a new use without careful consideration, the project reinterprets these shelters. Thus, it takes the heritage as an important basis for making design decisions. By changing the previous concept of military anxiety to that of ecological worries, the project alters the conception of defense to suggest continuity, preservation, and dedication.
Using a design approach based on research and referring to current seed archives, the project examines how the spatial layout, environmental control, and limits can benefit plant maintenance while keeping the original structures of the shelters.