Kwakkel Showroom

Located in an industrial area, between city center and highway, the client distributes building and sanitary wares and required new facilities for their diverse program; administration, showroom, storage, service area, as well as cafeteria and restaurant, overlaying the customary showroom program with additional public use. Occupying the entire site, the program was equally divided into exterior and interior spaces. The main volume, consisting of interior program, was stretched laterally across the site, following its sinuous profile, while also distributing storage and parking areas on the remainder of the site.

The various users, whether traveling by foot or automobile, enter the premises by passing underneath the center of the main volume. From here the main entrance hall is encountered, accessible from the two main exterior spaces, functioning as cashier, security, and transfer point. This main circulation route leads to the upper level consisting of exhibition, office, cafeteria, and restaurant space. Large terraces extend at either end of the building.

The two levels are spatially and visually connected via staircase, roof, and floor perforations, which convert to internal patios in the showroom. Their configurations organize an internal route through the building creates a cinematographic condition for the building’s inhabitants. With the exception of foyer, the building is completely enveloped in translucent white polycarbonate, which, combined with the internal patios, alters and shifts both day and artificial light along its articulated surface, providing multiple perceptions from various vantage points.

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