Visitor Center Park Vijversburg
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2011 - 2017
Tytsjerk, The Netherlands
Visitor center
Stichting Op Toutenburg
Junya Ishigami & Associates, ABT, Jun Sato,
Mart Lenis, Jurriens Noord BV + Friso Bouwgroep
Marieke Kums, Jelmer Buurma, Yuka Takeuchi, Eunyong Kim, Yongil Kim, Thanasis Ikomonou, Panos Papanastasis
Iwan Baan Awards
Nomination Mies van der Rohe Award, ARC Detail Award,
AIT Best public building Park Vijversburg, situated in the north of the Netherlands, is an 18th century estate that has been open to the public since 1892. Throughout the year, the park hosts many events such as international art exhibitions, musical performances, church services and excursions.

In 2011 Studio Maks won the competition for a new visitor center together with Junya Ishigami & Associates. To accommodate the increasing number of visitors, the client asked for a new extension to the historical villa to be used as a meeting and exhibition space. The old villa and surrounding park were to be treated with the utmost care, as they are both national monuments. We wanted to make a most subtle intervention. Although the pavilion is an architectural project, it was designed and imagined as part of the landscape. The design consists of three lines, thin glass facades that stretch into the park and follow the existing natural elements: a pond, a tree line and the villa garden. These three elevations reflect the natural surroundings and make the pavilion and landscape blend into one another.
The central space lies partially sunken into the landscape; softly undulating slopes guide visitors from the large scale exterior of the park into the heart of the building, one meter below ground level. It thus reduces the impact of the building on its surroundings, gives the interior a certain intimacy and provides visitors with another perspective on the landscape.

In order to create fully unobstructed views towards the surroundings, the use of additional structural elements, such as columns and walls, were avoided. Instead the insulated and extra clear glass walls themselves carry the roof. The triangular shape helps to avoid using transverse walls while maintaining a free span of fifteen meter. This innovative structural glazing design was developed in collaboration with ABT and Jun Sato structural engineers.


© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

Glass radius drawing

3D Steel construction model