design 1994-1995, realisation 1995-1997,
design 2002, realisation 2003-2004
client: Municipality of Utrecht (1997), VvE Het Gebouw / Ontwikkelingsbedrijf Municipality of Utrecht (2004)
gross floor area: 15.000 m2
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The former School for Fashion and Graphic Industry (now Graphical Highschool Utrecht and School for Grafimedia) is situated on the edge of Utrecht’s city centre.
The original assignment was to design a new façade and entrance for a building that already had a floor plan and structural design. The design concept for the new façade expresses the school’s teaching disciplines of fashion and technical subjects.
The entire building is enclosed in a glass envelope, which like a silk veil conveys a mysterious and ambiguous definition by revealing what is behind. The transparent glass allows the technical components of the building to be seen.
Structural elements, timber members, exposed masonry walls and the insulation pads that cover the building like a woolen blanket are all visible behind the glass.
New insulation material replacing the original pads added behind the glass veil in 2004 has created yet a new image for the building.
The entrance space houses a central lecture room which, when illuminated at night, acts as a beacon to the surrounding environment.
