Archinect - News

De Zwarte Hond designs flexible timber office park in Amsterdam

2023-06-22T11:30:00-04:00

De Zwarte Hond has designed a timber office building for Dutch energy company Alliander. Located on the Noordzeeweg in Amsterdam Westpoort, the new offices are described as circular and flexible, consisting of workshops, warehouses, test facilities, and educational and park buildings.

Image: Jaques Tillmans Foto Focus / De Zwarte Hond

Sustainability guided the design of the roughly 226,042-square-foot complex, which resulted in high flexibility, scalability, and modularity. Materials such as wood were used as much as possible, and harmful substances like glue, PU foam or sealant were minimized. The parking building’s detached set-up allows it to grow or shrink. In addition, the structure’s façades are made of weather-resistant Corten steel.

Image: Scagliola Brakkee / De Zwarte Hond

The office is gas-free and energy neutral due to approximately 37 square feet of solar panels and thermal energy storage. Its use of timber allowed the project to store 560 tons of carbon dioxide. Much con...

De Zwarte Hond designs a multi-use supermarket made entirely out of wood

2021-11-16T18:46:00-05:00

In Meerstad, a neighborhood in the Dutch city of Groningen, De Zwarte Hond is designing a multi-use supermarket made entirely of wood. Called the SuperHub, the project is labeled as a sustainable and flexible building that is also a host to a variety of social functions.

Meerstad, which was added to the municipality of Groningen in 2017, is known for its spaciousness, greenery, and the newly constructed Woldmeer, a lake for recreation. The focus of the area is on healthy living and sustainability. The neighborhood is also growing, as it anticipates the construction of around 5,000 homes over the next 25 years. To meet the needs of Meerstad’s expansion, De Zwarte Hond was tasked with designing a facilities cluster that could grow with the district. It was envisioned to be the heart of the changing area, where people not only did their shopping but also come together and spend time.

The building is transparent and all-sided, offering impressive views of a nearby new park and the la...

DeZwarteHond & Powerhouse Company place giant triangular roof on top of new transit station

2020-07-06T19:24:00-04:00

The historic Assen Station in the Netherlands has been transformed by a massive triangular wooden roof and the addition of a new station building below it. Designed by De Zwarte Hond and Powerhouse Company for the NS, ProRail, and Assen city council, the new station provides a striking gateway into the city.

Photo by Egbert de Boer.

Photo by Sebastian van Damme.

The city asked for a transparent and inviting station that would seamlessly connect visitors to the surrounding neighborhoods. The triangular geometry of the roof gives the building below a dynamic cap while also organizing the programmatic qualities of the station, creating a subtle tunnel for travelers to pass through and keeping both the neighborhood and urban sectors intertwined.

Photos by Sebastian van Damme.

At 3,000 square meters, the roof is made entirely of wood and rises 10 meters at its high point. The shape is a scalene triangle, where each side is a different length with measurements of 78, 88, and 90 meters respec...

De Zwarte Hond & Monadnock's new park pavilion plays with homeyness and intimacy

2019-12-07T10:39:00-05:00

Sitting at the heart of the Hoge Veluwe National Park is the new Park Pavilion designed by De Zwarte Hond and Monadnock. Designed to welcome visitors and heighten the quality of their visit, the pavilion offers a restaurant, park shop, education spaces, and reception areas. It inserts itself as a modest addition to the 5,400 hectare nature reserve that is the Hoge Veluwe National Park.

The architects focused on ensuring the building was an integral part of the landscape and the park experience. Pulling from the nostalgic qualities of a country house, the structure, when viewed from its narrow end, mimics the characteristic double roof of the home archetype. Moving beyond this, the building subtly transforms into an organic curvilinear form, with expansive glazing that highlights a more intimate and smaller scale, allowing users to take in the surrounding landscape.

A vaulted ceiling extends the full length of the space leading visitors through an intuitive path through the building....