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diederendirrix & architecten|en|en www.architecten-en-en.nl

New life for ’t Karregat

By 04-03-2016

The architects combination diederendirrix architects and architects|en|en renovated the multifunctional building ‘t Karregat (1973) by adding space for the school, a day care centre and a number of district amenities.

‘t Karregat, designed by architect Frank van Klingeren, is one of the first multifunctional centers in the Netherlands. Under a large continuous roof supported by steel parasols, Van Klingeren created a free space without dividing walls providing room for a supermarket, small shops, elementary schools, a gymnasium and a community center. The building in the Herzenbroeken district in Eindhoven received extensive international attention, but the experimental setup appeared not to work well. Quite soon, the users themselves started dividing the space under the roof with partitions until it was completely boarded up.

Diederendirrix architects and architects|en|en were commissioned to breathe new life into the building. The basis of the design, the roof with the special parasol constructions, has been restored and preserved. We packed the parasols in transparent panels, enabling day light to enter the space and resolving any climatological problems and dust nuisance. A flexible internal wall system of opaqueand transparent parts allows for more openness. By leaving part of the roof open, we created a new patio that provided the spaces around it with daylight. As a result, the building got a new partitioning, with clear entrances in a transparent

www.diederendirrix.nl
www.architecten-en-en.nl