Kwakkel Showroom

Located in an industrial area between Apeldoorn's city center and a nearby highway–in the east of the Netherlands–this office contains the administrative and showroom areas of a furniture manufacturer. Its main volume composes its interior, while both its parking and outdoor storage areas are scattered throughout the rear of the site. The office is slightly curved along its front edge, which traces a semicircular entry pathway for automobiles–which is bordered by water–that proceeds to pass under the center of the main volume, in order to connect both entities of the site. In this way, the rear storage areas remains unseen by those driving past the building. After entering the office’s main foyer, a central circulation route leads users up and into the first floor exhibition, office, and café spaces. The main volume’s two floors are visually and spatially intertwined by numerous staircases that punctuate the dividing floor at unexpected intervals within the administrative spaces, which return in the showroom as internal patios. With the exception of the foyer, the office is wrapped completely in translucent white polycarbonate, which captures the ever changing natural light that dances and glitters upon its highly articulated surface; this amplifies the office’s capacity for ‘interiority’.

Location
Tweelingenlaan 13
7324 AP Apeldoorn
the Netherlands

Program
Office

Size
5.400 m2

Date of design
1999-2001

Date of completion
2002

Project team
Wiel Arets, William Fung, Harold Hermans, Philippe Dirix, Carl Augustijns

Collaborators
Harold Aspers, Elsa Caetano, Jacques van Eyck, Frank Menzel, Mai Henriksen, Markus Elminger

Client
Kwakkel BV

Consultants
Huygen Installatieadviseurs BV, Hollander BV, Cauberg-Huygen Raadgevende Ingenieurs BV, ABT voor BV, Draisma BV