Revitalizing De Bunswaard, a former brickworks

Thanks to climate change, the elements are looming ever larger in daily life but also in architecture. When designing to accommodate the rising sea level we can draw inspiration from the Netherlands' rich and instructive past as a land of water. Fascinated by this problematic, I have looked at the way the water influences my immediate surroundings and how I could use this information in redesigning De Bunswaard, a former brickworks, in a new capacity. This unique factory complex stands in the floodplains of the river Waal. My aim in reallocating the brickworks is to retain the interplay of landscape and buildings typical of the region. At the same time, the project is an opportunity to learn from the past and experiment with building in the river's retention area as a next step in Dutch 'water culture'.

The historical aspect of the brickworks, as a relic of the past, is an effective stepping-off point for the design, as are functional and aesthetic typologies found in the landscape and the factory buildings.

The design seeks to return the complex to its rightful place in the region, not as a monument but functioning in a form appropriate to today. The former brickworks acts as a new creative incubator, providing affordable workplaces and studios for local people alongside exhibitions and performances put on for visitors. De Bunswaard's new duty is designed so that users and visitors can engage with the uncertainties in the region. Just these changes in the landscape are what make the formula work.

Key components of the scheme are the field oven (Waaloven) and chamber oven (Kamerringoven) and so these are worked out in technical and architectural detail. Should the water level rise alarmingly in the future, this heart of the De Bunswaard complex will continue to function. The water level in phase 5, 1475 cm above Amsterdam mean sea level, means that the two former ovens then have wet feet. The design accepts the water's presence in a controlled form. In this phase, the routeing in the area has shrunk so much that only the field and chamber ovens are accessible, reached along a pontoon bridge.

Place of education: TU Eindhoven | Specialization: architecture | Tutors: Jouke Post, John Swagten, Hüsnü Yegenoglu