Second life for Terneuzen town hall

After an intensive research phase, it is now official: we are going to make the iconic Terneuzen town hall more sustainable and reprogram it. We recently received this news from the Municipality of Terneuzen. This marks the start of a new, important phase for the future of this special building.

Over the past few months, we have conducted an extensive study into the possibilities for the town hall, in collaboration with the municipality and DGMR. The study focused on questions such as:

• How can we make the town hall accessible to the people of Terneuzen again?
  What structural, technical, and building physics interventions are necessary to make it more sustainable?
• How can we do this without affecting its monumental appearance?
• And what are the costs involved?

Picture: Mike Dierckx

Heritage with a future

The recent nomination of Terneuzen Town Hall as a national monument within the Post 65 period emphasizes the importance of a careful approach. Our study shows that sustainability is entirely possible, despite the challenges posed by a brutalist building from this period.

In the reprogramming, we are investigating how the town hall, with its council chamber and mayor’s office, can be made more accessible to the public and further developed as an open and inviting place: a true ‘home for the city’. As the original designers, we feel a strong responsibility to safeguard Jaap Bakema’s design vision and ensure that the plans respect or enhance the historical value and character of the building.

Start of the design process

With the official commissioning, the design process has now begun. The ambition is clear: to make the city hall future-proof, improve its energy performance, and, through reprogramming, further open the building to the public, while respecting its monumental character.

We look forward to the next phase and will share more about the plans and design soon.