Sited at Katwijk aan Zee, Network is shaped by a dynamic interplay of ecological structures.

The project is for a building interwoven with nature. In its unpredictable duneland setting, the combination of nature and architecture constructs a network of encounters with natural forces and organisms. The site once marked the westernmost extremity of the Limes, the fortified frontier of the Roman Empire. The intention is to recover and revivify the lost traces and memories of the history of that place and have it play a part in the daily life of today's inhabitants. At present, the name of the area, Het Wantveld, is all that recalls the past when the fishing nets (wanten) were unrolled here for the women to repair.
The design visualizes the site's identity. A unity of nature and building is achieved by cladding the complex in the green mantle that was originally on site. The sculptural lines this etches in the landscape refer to the outstretched fishing nets. Staged folds in the roof planes imitate the vitality of the dune landscape. The partially buried architecture recalls the remains of Hitler's Atlantic Wall bunkers hidden in the dune landscape.
Eroding dunes constitute the changing landscape of which the complex is to become part. The openings in the roof surface throw up a tug-of-war between the world above and that below. These openings are patios and courtyard gardens that double as entrances to the facilities below them.
Besides performing cultural duties, the complex houses sports and leisure facilities alternating with places for events and for chilling out. Circulation routes thread between the volumes where they form a sequence of alleyways, plazas, streets and arcades. The internal structure is derived from experiences to be had on the way through the old fishing village with its close-knit fabric and inward-facing courts in a labyrinth of streets, barrages and alleyways. The internal boulevard runs at right angles to the net-volumes and ends at the onset of the dune landscape. New developments such as the construction of a sea port are taken up in the intervention, generating a synergy between urban park and docks. Open to multiple interpretations, the plan incorporates memories of history along with new activities and occurrences. Here, future and past link arms with the present.

Place of education: TU Delft | Specialization: architecture | Tutors: Robert Nottrot, Theo van der Voort, Elise van Doorn