Viewing Tower / ateliereenarchitecten
Architect: ateliereenarchitecten, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Location: Reusel, the Netherlands
Client: assigned partial by local government, partial by merchant for outdoor sports
Year: 2008-2009
Footprint: appr. 100 sqm
Photographs: ateliereenarchitecten
In the Netherlands over 50 spots are marked on the map as starting points for recreational use of the rural landscape. People are encouraged to park their cars at these locations instead of at other, more preserved, areas. From here they can explore nature by foot, mountain bike, horse etc. In the small town Reusel, the nomination motivated a local sports merchant to found an outdoor sports park.
A tower, 25 meters high, with sport facilities like climbing and abseiling is the main attraction. It consists of six cubes, hanging on a core of steel columns. Straight flight staircases raise in between and cross the cubes several times in different positions.
Two of the six cubes are accessible. The third one is the start platform for a rope slide and a high rope track. In the top box people can enjoy a panorama view of the surrounding landscape and there is a starting platform for abseiling. The athletes on the 13 meters high climbing wall are observed by visitors of the adjacent bistro.
Huge stacks of logs can be found in the surrounding production forest. The cladding of the tower consists of the same halved, stripped logs. This way it is an addition, as well a product of it’s surroundings.
The climbing of the stairs is a surprising experience, because of the different intersections of stairs and cubes and the varying directions of the cladding. The use of wood makes the object fit in it’s setting. The orthogonal (unnatural!) shapes on the other hand create an exciting composition.
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- site plan
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- floor plans
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- elevations
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13 comments »
interesting social spaces. Great stuff…
great looking project. i would’ve loved to see some detail drawings.
cute.
i would like a zoo with this expression.
the composition looks nice.
Nice to see an architecture project on ArchDaily that is very close to where I live.
On topic: I like the way they’ve stacked those boxes. Maybe the idea came from the recent towers from Herzog & de Meuron (and OMA)
Reminds me of Andrew Maynard’s Holl and Styx concepts …
http://www.maynardarchitects.com/Site/houses/Pages/Holl_House.html
http://www.maynardarchitects.com/Site/houses/Pages/Styx_Protest_Shelter.html
What a amazing public space in the netherlands.
You know, in our country, this’s very hard to get the space like this one for the most of all.
But what’s surprise me most is how did the structural engineer design the structure of this odd building?
Anyway, i like this one!
origineel ontwerp. Dit bewijst dat de Nederlandse architecten internationaal goed kunnen meekomen.
Clever project, particularly the way they gently organize visitor movements so that nature is experienced from a different perspective of parking lot to park. My only misgiving, which will dissipate over time, is that the wood tower structure is rather large, relative to the height of the woods that surround it.
it is amazing design to the Netherlands in interesting social spaces.
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