At the “Nieuwegracht” (New Canal) in Utrecht we found this old rectory and Episcopal palace which has its first foundations dating back to the 15th century. In the 60’s the formerly big open spaces were divided into small rooms with metal stud walls and had suspended ceilings, placed without any eye for the historical value, daylight or spatial qualities. The first step was therefore stripping all that away. The new user is the staff of the faculty of theology of the University of Tilburg, which has a dependence in Utrecht. They wanted to implement the so called “New way of working” which implies no small office rooms or fixed working desks, but a maximum of flexibility and openness. 

To achieve this we brought the floor plan back to wide, open spaces where daylight can easily enter, and introduced a large roof window. Because there had to be some internal walls to be able to realise smaller privacy offices and meeting rooms they have been made completely out of glass. Above the removed suspended ceilings we found two painted girders that date back to the late 15th century. We left these in sight and the flower motif of the painting served as an inspiration for the custom made carpet. The pattern of this carpet is black with grey leaves for the office spaces and vice versa for the meeting rooms. The rest of the old beam ceiling is also completely left in sight but painted in colours that we found through examination of the paint layers that we found on them. The air supply shafts and light fixtures freely hang in the space as new elements, the rest of the installations are hid away under a raised floor and above the ceiling so they are kept out of sight.