Force(d) to transform

Basic information

Project Title

Full project title

The transformation of conflict heritage to a cultural community that co-habits within nature.

Project Description

The WW2 camouflage system of dispersing military infrastructure among the surrounding nature resulted in an unintentional valuable relation between historic built heritage and nature. The transformation of this former Luftwaffe airbase provided the unique opportunity to create a test-case for a cultural community to live in nature. The creation of the place to house this creative community involved the sensitive adaptation of more mundane military heritage within the limits of the nature reserve

Geographical Scope

Local

Project Region

Arnhem, Netherlands

Urban or rural issues

It addresses urban-rural linkages

Physical or other transformations

It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)

EU Programme or fund

Description of the project

Summary

Gustav Mahler wrote: “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.”
KRAFT architecten looks from a local and rooted perspective at relevant social and spatial themes to which we can contribute in an honest, impactful and future-oriented manner.
We design from a constant awareness of the long design and construction tradition in which we stand (history), the task that now presents itself (the present) and the inevitable future that we are shaping.
The transformation of the former WW2-era Lufwaffe officers’ mess was a unique change to bundle all our interests and beliefs in one meaningful and special architectural intervention. The camouflage system of dispersing rural-architecture mimicking military buildings across the largest designated national park of the Netherlands resulted in a peacetime situation with massive unique qualities. The moment the post war military base was decommissioned by the Dutch government, a plan was made by a collaboration between local landscape designers, architects, artists and the local municipality to take advantage of this unique situation and devise a plan to create a cultural enclave, within a nature reserve.
The location is an intensive epicenter of many diverse layers where the sensitive historical heritage and the regulation of the national park where the most apparent. The plan envisioned a creative working and living ecosystem of creative and cultural professionals who could move there with their families and live in the adapted conflict heritage buildings. Most of the post war buildings and all of the military barriers were demolished, so that the surrounding flora and fauna can return once more in between the buildings.
The architectural assignment to transform the heritage buildings, defining and using existing qualities while addressing the historic layers within the preservative regulations of a nature reserve was a great task, which had to result in a valuable place for families to live.

Key objectives for sustainability

Foremost, the re-use of existing buildings is one of the main factors to reduce the Co2 emission to produce new building materials. The portfolio of buildings needs to change and adapt continuously to meet the changing demands of the society where they are situated. The structure of buildings can be the longest lasting as long as it can incorporate new uses. The structures are also the most material consuming of the building process. Thus making use of these structures is the most efficient way to reduce the footprint of this need for adaptation. Due to it's intensive use of space, the Netherlands has maneuvered itself in a tight spot, wedged between extensive use of lands for agriculture, nature preservation and the need to build one million homes within the next ten years.
Finding ways to create good examples how we can solve this puzzle within the set limits is a huge task. Due to the derelict state of this exact building, stakeholders where of the opinion the existing structure should be demolished to make way for a new building, that meets all the demands in regards to present-day energy consumption and building regulations. Our first task as an architect was to show how we could make use of the cultural and historic value of that what was already there.
In the end, the result is a set of buildings that do meet present day demand for living and working, whilst transforming it's sensitive military connotation into a new positive meaning.
The plan has been recognized as a blueprint of how Dutch society, municipalities should act, in a sensitive and meaningful way, which respects local conditions as way to meet continuous changing societal demands within the limits of culture and nature.

Key objectives for aesthetics and quality

The former officers' mess - better known as KKN7 - was built by the occupying forces during the Second World War as part of the former Fliegerhorst Deelen. Although KKN7 itself is not a monument, it is considered by the authorities to be part of a monumental ensemble. In our opinion, every building should be treated as heritage. Post-war, many pragmatic changes were made to the building. We called the building a patched-up jacket: pragmatically renovated, spatially impoverished, poorly maintained and spatially and historically impure.
When transforming the buildings into a space for families to work and live, we therefore not only looked for a way to create a place where seven individual households would feel at home and where seven creative companies would flourish, but above all also for a strategy that would do justice to the location, focus on the object as a whole and in particular the historical layering and diffuseness that it has acquired in its relatively short existence. We did not want to write historical fiction, but rather give the building a third life in a well-considered manner. By spatially disconnecting the business and residential functions and clustering the functions, we have been able to create both an inspiring workplace and an intimate living environment. The new use is a readable layer to the existing historic structure, where every house is an identifiable unit. All homes are accessed from the communal courtyard where they can meet, relax and play, and, apart from two terraces, have no private outdoor space. The surrounding landscape is the outdoor space. We created a partition plan that creates smaller houses next to the larger ones, so the complex is accessibly to less wealthier families. To strategically adapt the building we treated the scars of post-war low value pragmatic adaptations with a healing approach: removing these insensitive modifications created the change to adapt the structure to it’s new use.

Key objectives for inclusion

We created a partition plan that creates smaller houses next to the larger ones, so the complex is accessibly to less wealthier families. Earlier plans were made that distributed the building into equal housing units. As there are many restricting regulations due to the location in the nature reserve, the location was only allowed that many housing units. We consciously made the decision that as wide a variety as possible should be able to live in such a beautiful and unique place.
Each house accommodates for life-long living, where the families as a whole can work and live in the same location. Many houses can also accommodate for a kangaroo-house setting, where to generations can live together and take care of each other, behind one shared front door.
The cultural enclave idea the started the project is becoming reality. The location in nature, quite far away from the heart of Arnhem city, creates a sense of real interdependability among it's inhabitants. Facilities are shared, a cultural program is being developed and connections are made with other local initiatives.
As mentioned, the houses don't have private gardens so all the natural surroundings are communal, not even for the local community, but for every person who wants to visit this location.
During the collaboration with the national park ranger, this project is seen by him as a test case to see how the new community can really co-exist within nature. As all the rules that apply to the location in regards to nature preservation are set in stone and will be enforced by the park ranger indiscriminately, this provides a unique situation where lot's of experience and knowledge will be created that can help to elevate the critical relationship between nature preservation and human habitation.

Results in relation to category

In short, we want to be an advocate for building places where people feel at home and have a sense of belonging.
Location, cultural and natural history provide for an attachment to the local and create responsibility to act to preserve these environments.
Too many housing solutions in the world result in endless repetitions of places that seems to be developed solely on functional and economical parameters.
We human beings are social beings, something that shouldn’t be dismissed. Nature has to be preserved and climate change should be reduced.
The parameters to provide places to live for human communities should thus be set as wide as possible.
The huge challenge to provide quality housing for the world population should incorporate societal and cultural needs, needs that are easily forgotten due to the size of the challenge, where material, economic and management efficiency may be prevalent.

How Citizens benefit

The whole basis of the project, the idea of a cultural enclave living within nature, was devised by local people with a passion for nature, conflict history and cultural creation. Realizing this dream within the physical remnants of one of the darkest periods in Dutch and European history was a cultural challenge, apart from the more technical challenge of adapting old buildings for new uses. This could only be done with the support an joined effort of the local government, nature preservation organizations, heritage organizations and the building regulation authorities. It was a huge risk to start the project and continue supporting it, with the mark on the horizon to create something unique and learn from it. Create a high value practical example and new societal strategies how to deal with such multi-layered locations to meet demands of present day society.
This case is gaining interest from urban planners, municipalities, housing associations, etc and we are sure it's example and approach will lead to many more projects which will result in places where communities can live in a sustainable way, with a strong relationship with nature and a highly valuable spatial surrounding.

Physical or other transformations

It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)

Innovative character

The mainstay of Dutch housing involves building hundreds of traditional run of the mill new houses in a repetitive pattern. These projects are highly efficient but lack the character of an actual site, are impersonal and don't provide for a communal experience and a sense of place. Little space, besides the cumpulsory playing ground, is reserved for spaces to meet each other socially. Trying to find sites that don't adhere to the normal planning rules of conventional developers is a way to create special places where communities of families really can feel at home and have a sense of belonging.
Nature and heritage locations can provide these qualities: they create a unique sense of place and a connection to cultural and natural history. The issue is that these exact locations come with a long list of restrictions and problems that have to be solved. This prehibits developers and municipalities from looking into these sites seriously as a way to meet present day demands. As a result, we continue reinforcing a building culture of repetitional large scale housing projects.
This project is a clear result that if you look well enough and pay enough attention and approach such locations with care, the result can be a place where people feel attached, responsible and live and work as a community.
With the goal of one million extra houses, we feel the need, the responsibility to society and nature to look for other more sustainable ways to facilitate living.

Disciplines/knowledge reflected

Present day building requires quite an investment and spatial requirements to build houses that are sustainable in their energy consumption. To incorporate these demands in an existing structure can be hard and are prone to be vulnerable when the client also has high demands in regard to aesthetics, functional use and budget restrictions.
In this particular case, all previously defined sustainability ambitions were maintained thoughout the design process and actual building.
The whole design process was supported by biodiversity consultants (many protected species inhabit the location).
Sustainable building materials where used as much as possible and the re-use of the existing structure provided the biggest effect on CO2 emission.
Special attention was given to preserving the utilitarian historic makeshift construction spans that were present in the existing structure. Conserving these huge spans, out of metal of wood and making them visible within the interior of the houses was a design decision we made with the construction advisors. From a solely construction viewpoint this was unattractive, but making these elements a visible representation on the interior of the otherworldly origin of the building, so detached from the sense of the family house environment was something we found important. This is a thing that the inhabitants are very grateful for.
All houses are oriented with their recognizable front doors to the interior communal garden, so that the more private quarters of the houses look out over the surrounding nature. A quality that was provided by the landscape designer, and a gift that we love to use as architects.

Methodology used

We treat anything that exists as heritage: it was passed down and can be of value instead of being an obstacle. Whether it is natural, cultural or physically built.
We do feel the responsibility to provide society with answers to meet changing demands. Housing, fighting climate change, providing solutions for everyone.
Building is an undeniable political act: you take up space, effect your surroundings.
As an architect we feel the need to take responsibility and be an advocate for our client but also for the surroundings and those involved that can't represent themselves formally. Nature (or the planet as a whole) can be one of those stakeholders.
Be sensitive for emotions and cultural value that are inherently connected to historical locations. We are sure we need to give special intention to get to know the actual historical facts in regard to the location. We don't want to focus our work on a historical fiction, popular stories, misconceptions, etc.
Gaining a deeper knowledge on the historical conditions and origins of heritage gives us the tools to create a site specific transformation doctrine.
This doctrine enables us to make design decisions throughout the project and communicate our views with all stakeholders involved.
In this way we create a bigger change for reuse of historic structures.
In the end, by using the historical values of the site as much as possible, we create the notion that if this is done well, it represents not only cultural value, but also commercial value, convincing developers that this is the strategy they should follow more often, instead of demolishing everything that doesn't fit in their Excel sheets. This will create a huge gain on an ecological level.

How stakeholders are engaged

Every organization involved got out of their normal comfort zone and exercised flexibility to approach the project from all its facets not in the dogmatic bureaucratic way, but paying more attention to the actual goals of rules and regulations. This approach made the final result possible and this approach can also be a showcase how authorities can apply the regulations if the end creates justifiable quality.
Even when the Netherlands were hit by the nitrogen crisis, the project could continue, as we already designed the redevelopment with respect to the needs of nature.
A list of the organizations involved:
- Hans Jungerius
- National Heritage Service
- Municipality of Arnhem
- Nationaal Park Hoge Veluwe
- Ministry of Defense
- Arnhem Building Regulations
- Kondor Wessels Projecten
- Fire department
- Buro Harro Landschapsarchitectuur

Global challenges

As mentioned before, re-use of building structures is the biggest effect we as a building industry can have on CO2 emissions. It cuts the biggest gap in building industry emissions: the creation of building materials necessary to create the edifices that we as a society need. These structures thave the longest life expectancy, but the complexity of existing conditions and the need for adjustment create a trigger to demolish these structures and shorten their replacement cycle significantly.
The Netherlands might be a good example, where due to our high population density, of the limitations a society encounters when space for new developments runs out and new solutions have to be found to readjust the present environment to changing demands. We hope we can be at the front of these issues, and be part of the example and knowledge gained, so the experience can be used at a later time, in developing countries which will encounter these conditions at some point in the near future.

Learning transferred to other parties

In this project, we started to define a clear systematic approach and design doctrine, based on historical research. We are still developing this doctrine with every project we do.
At the moment we are organizing a discussion with the National Heritage Organization, to reflect on the replication of this approach, with the collaboration with research and knowledge institutions.
The project approach and result has been hailed by critics as an example for other municipalities and developers as a way to deal with sensitive and complex situations in their task to fulfill societal demands for more space to house families and look for new ways of communal living.
It is also received as a good example of repurposing heritage in a meaningful way. The idea that demolishing is seen as a crime and should be avoided at all costs is gaining momentum in the Netherlands. Providing examples of buildings that were destined to be demolished to create a more comprehensible an easier manageable locations, which were saved from destruction and be turned into valuable places for living, can be a large contributor to changing the minds of the people that are in the position to make these decisions.
As a company, we are very happy that we can continue building on this experience and apply the lessons learned so we can create better places every time.