a boost for standardisation
an adaptive reuse of the kolonel palmkazerne into an ensemble for contemporary housing design
H.J. van der Meer (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)
P.A.M. Kuitenbrouwer – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
After the Cold War, the Netherlands abolished conscription, leaving many kazernes (military barrack complexes) vacant before being sold. One of these vacant kazernes is the Kolonel Palmkazerne located in Bussum. This Boostkazerne, named after its designer Boost, is not unique but part of a larger system of sixteen standardised barrack complexes built between 1938-1939. Boost created an efficient and aesthetic design; as an result, many kazernes have been repurposed or listed as heritage for their recognisable original architecture.
Given the current housing shortage, there exists a knowledge gap on how standardisation and spatial quality can reinforce each other. While many standardised systems are already applied, their architectural quality is often debated.Therefore, it is important to broaden our understanding of how standard models can contribute to contemporary housing design. This report studies the existing Boostkazernes through a comparative case study. The distilled lessons, combined with contemporary housing theory, inform a new adaptive reuse design for the Kolonel Palmkazerne, centering on the keukengebouw (kitchen building) of the kazerne.
The main conclusion from the value assessment is that while the original ensemble and the national system of Boostkazernes has very high heritage value, the kitchen building itself is an incoherent whole. The resulting design conserves the highest-valued parts of the existing keukengebouw, situated between two newly constructed translations of the nearby existing legeringsgebouwen (existing barrack buildings) and connected by an elevated platform. This is based in the palimpsest of the site, while preserving the original ideas and reusing the keukengebouw offers a sustainable method that ensures the continuity of cultural and historical value.
Two main axes define the design. A long private axis through the housing for elderly and starters, using a technical construction of prefabricated CLT-panels. In the other, public, axis of the existing keukengebouw, a box-in-box method is used to accomodate new functions. The basement will be activated by creating skylights, and the elevated platform provides wheather shelter in the form of a pergola. This structural framework, based on standardisation principles, acts as a robust ‘drager’ (carrier) for open interpretation, allowing diverse individuals to form a coherent collective. In this way, the past is connected to the future through the present.