Music School

The Music School is an additional to the Glaspaleis, which is one of the most important examples of Dutch Modernism. Designed and built by F.P.J. Peutz in 1935, the building was restored in 2004. There was originally a supermarket in the basement, a grand entrance on the ground floor, fashion shops on several floors, a restaurant on the fifth floor, and the client’s penthouse on the top floor, overlooking this mining city in the southern part of the Netherlands. Threatened with demolition in the 1990s, the building was purchased by the city of Heerlen, after which it was renovated according to the existing drawings. The freestanding addition of the Music School is set away from the Schunck cultural center so as to frame the visual axis of the adjacent church tower. Glass shingles clad the exterior to repel water and create surreal reflections of the surrounding square. Access to the Music School from within the Glaspaleis is achieved via an underground connection, visually separating the buildings from one another while leaving the Glaspaleis completely freestanding, as Peutz originally intended.

Location
Bongerd 18
6411 JM Heerlen
the Netherlands

Program
School

Size
650 m2

Date of design
1999-2001

Date of completion
2004

Project team
Wiel Arets, Jo Coenen, Massimo Adario, Iwert Bernakiewicz, Raymond Heimbach, Petra Jaquet, Bettina Kraus, Daniel Meier, Bettina Sättele, Frederik Schijns, Hans Schoot, Chris Smith, Wil.M. Ummels, Joost Vanderhoydonck, Massimo Adario, Chris Smith

Client
City of Heerlen

Consultants
BLH Bouwcombinatie Laudy-Heijmans, ABT BV, Huygen Installatie Adviseurs BV, Cauberg-Huygen Raadgevende Ingenieurs BV, Adviesbureau Peutz & Associates BV