To give the Hamershof a new, more chique, appearance the public space and facades of the shopping mall and houses are transformed. The current appearance of the public area in the Hamershof is cluttered and outdated. The new public space must contribute to the renewed image of a pleasant, contemporary and comfortable shopping center where everyone is welcome. To achieve this, paving is completely replaced by 1 new floor that ensures coherence, recognisability and unity. All small and scattered pieces of furniture are replaced by less but larger multifunctional furniture. Seating elements, space for greenery and bicycle storage are combined into one large and beautiful object. Furthermore, the experience of the water in the center is completely different in the new situation. The water is getting narrower than in the current situation, but it is really experienced by raising it, making it touchable and cross-over. In this way, the Kooikersgracht becomes a destination instead of an obstacle in the plan. The new public area will also ensure the integration of the new House of Leusden in the (shopping) center of the municipality.
Hamershof Public Space
Scroll voor meer info
Scroll for more info
A pleasant living and shopping area
Informatie
Information
Status: completed 2020
Team: Johan De Wachter, Nicolette Marzovilla, Marieke van Hensbergen, Anna Kintsurashvili
Client: Gemeente Leusden
Location: Leusden, NL
Program: Transformation of existing public space and shopping area
Hamershof Public Space
For more information about Hamershof Public Space, please contact:
Johan De Wachter
Johan de Wachter is an architect and founding partner at Woonwerk Architecten. He came to Rotterdam after his studies at the Catholic University of Louvain (KUL) and worked from 2000 to 2004 at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA/Rem Koolhaas) on various urban planning and architecture projects and competitions. In 2003 he founded Fün Design Consultancy and was a partner until 2005. In 2005 he founded Johan De Wachter Architecten and in 2011 he started 2DVW Architecten in Antwerp together with Rik De Vooght. In 2023, the agencies are given a new name. With the establishment of Woonwerk Architecten, the collaboration is given further shape. With Woonwerk, Johan works on projects at home and abroad.
Johan regularly teaches and has been, among others, a guest lecturer at Delft University of Technology, the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam and the Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg. He was appointed associate professor of urban design at Kaunas University of Technology in 2015. Here he leads the design studios with a specific focus on the integral transformation of former soviet residential areas (microrayons). Johan De Wachter was selected in 2014 for the “Europe 40 Under 40 Award”. This award recognized Johan as one of the 40 leading young design talents from Europe.
In addition to his work as an architect and teacher, Johan regularly sits on various committees and juries in the Netherlands and abroad. He is currently a member of the spatial quality committee in Breda (NL) and of the environmental committee in Tilburg (NL).
More about Johan
