Description

District service centre. In collaboration with Roel Bosch architecten and Schuurmans architecten.

With the District Service Centre the re-structuring of the Kanaleneiland District received the impuls that was needed. The intention was to reform the area around the Churchillaan in order to create the new ‘Center Kanaleneiland’. Special projects have been developed, that greatly increase the diversity of housing and amenities. It took a long-term to realize these projects on such a complex location, but the results are successful. In the area ‘Vlek 3’ the school ROC Midden Nederland is the first catalyst and the District Service Centre the second.

The District Service Centre ((DSC) is situated in the plinth of the central building block of Vlek 3. The urban boundary conditions dictated a plinth that should be 9 metres high and completely transparent, thus giving the DSC an air of being very accessible. The Centre contains a library, a district office and a centre for youth and families (CYF). The three facilities share a main entrance of double height at the western corner. The communal entrance is clearly recognisable from the street by its colourful, oval shaped cylinder behind the full-glazed front, which is the icon of the DSC. The library is situated in the rest of the high ground floor space. From two sides natural light floods in, through a high glazed front at the Churchillaan and a series of vertical windows to the patio.

On the upper level at the front we find the district office and at the back the CYF. To help the visitor’s orientation, coloured floor fields have been added according to a specific concept, inspired by the well-known multicoloured weather map. An elongated piece of furniture houses the amenities and forms the brightly coloured epicentre of the floor, which is ‘felt’ from every angle. From there, the floors change colour towards the facades, giving every spot on this level it’s own, easy to recognize, character.