town hall west betuwe

For the West Betuwe municipality, created in 2019 by a merger of Geldermalsen, Neerijnen and Lingewaal, the former Geldermalsen town hall has been sustainably renovated, modernized and expanded. With the premise of "as much reuse as possible," a customized plan, energy-efficient choices, and the application of lots of wood, the renewed house of democracy is ready for the future. cepezed drew for the architecture and the interior. 'Connection' played an important role in this design. It connects old and new and links the villages of the newly merged municipality.

client(s)
municipality west betuwe

location
geldermalsen

user(s)
municipality west betuwe

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expertise
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cepezed interior

project brochure
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new wooden structures

The existing city hall was a cluster of building sections from 1984, 1996 and 2010, situated around a patio. It was a dark, rather labyrinthine building whose acoustics left much to be desired, surrounded by a stone-paved outdoor space. cepezed preserved the existing complex and added two striking, wooden constructions. The floor plan was arranged more logically, with separate zones for civil servants, the public, and the city council and political groups. The new building segment with the public entrance looks like a pavilion because of the prominent horizontal line of the canopy and its glass facade sections. It is carefully fitted in between the pond and monumental trees. The prefabricated roof elements have an acoustic function and the installations and lighting have been incorporated into them.

legible transformation

By demolishing a building section and organizing the building differently, the routing improves and the surrounding garden gains more body. The choice of wood makes the two new additions 'legible', as does the choice not to connect them directly to the old building: skylights have been created between the wooden building parts and the existing building. Before demolition, reusable elements were mapped. New additions are reserved in tone so that the existing building is not snowed under and the eye is drawn outside. There are reused PV panels on the roofs, supplemented by 260 new panels. The two new building sections are prefabricated structures, which can be disassembled and reused.

multifunctional council chamber

The wooden pavilion facing the garden houses the public reception desk, consultation rooms, waiting room and council chamber in addition to the entrance. A prominent, wide canopy provides unity, offers protection from the sun and softens the transition between inside and outside. The council chamber offers a view of the greenery and effectively functions as the "living room" of the new municipality: in addition to council sessions, it can host meetings, events, concerts, lectures and weddings. The other new building section is placed on the former patio and serves as a central meeting space with workstations, coffee bar and kitchen.

identity

In designing the interior, a way was sought to express the identity of the new municipality. The three colors from the municipal logo - red, blue and green - were used as accent colors. The building sections for civil affairs, civil servants and city council were each given a recognizable, individual color. Typical, historical and landscape aspects are reflected in the interior. For example, the river Linge was blasted into the tiled floor - in the building, the course of the river connects the new council chamber with the former patio. The existing furniture of the merged municipalities was also inventoried, yielding a usable collection of fine chairs and a few gems. Some of the chairs were reupholstered.

multipurpose wooden elements

The new, wooden furniture that cepezedinterieur designed especially for the West Betuwe town hall is, where possible, tailored to multiple functions. For instance, the wall elements in the council chamber are simultaneously a bench for the public, a cabinet and a screen. In addition, they limit views from outside. In parallel to these elements, cepezedinterieur designed loose furniture for the council chamber. The tables are switchable so that they can be placed in a circle, but also in a large plane or smaller groups.

green inside and out

The garden surrounding the building was redesigned, with increasing biodiversity as a key consideration. New facade sections are made of glass and offer a good view of the grasses and plants. Where paving was necessary, semi-paving was chosen wherever possible. The planting inside is clustered, in a plant wall or in large containers - in the cafeteria, the containers are placed semi-sunken. The sculptures already in the garden have been reinstalled and supplemented with a selection of sculptures from the art collection of the Municipality of West Betuwe.

post-corona

The design process for West Betuwe's town hall took place almost entirely in the corona period. This meant, among other things, that the program of requirements in terms of workstations was suddenly outdated: suddenly, working from home was the norm. Workwire organized a number of workshops to get a grip on the new requirements. The outcome was quintessentially post-corona: more workstations for collaborative work or meeting and fewer individual workstations as standard.

partners

interior design: cepezedinterieur
building services & building physics: DGMR
workplace strategy: WorkWire
construction: wsp
main contractor: WAM & Van Duren Bouw
contractor e & m installations: WSi techniek Projecten

contact
→ Mail bd@cepezed.nl or call our business development team on +31 (0)15 2150000

town hall west betuwe