placemaking in the Horst

The Horst building is located on the campus of the University of Twente. It was built in 1964 with its last interior renovation dating to the early 90s. The number of students and employees has increased significantly since the 1960s. This led to the question: How can we integrate additional spaces for students and employees that inspire and showcase what the faculty does?

Together with the faculty and its students we organised workshops on site to get a better understanding of the programme of requirements and hear everyone´s voice. These workshops led to the concept of placemaking.

The building has a ring-shaped layout with satellites, both of which own a distinct visual identity, noticeable by the choice of materials and colours. The design aims at blending with the existing materialisation instead of competing for attention by adding an extra visual identity. Doing so, we aimed at maintaining a visual tranquillity and restore unity.

By creating a design family and opting for ton sur ton colours, the new areas will be recognisable as part of the building and at the same time adaptable for future use. With the concept of placemaking, the faculty's identity will be renewed without making any structural changes to the building.

The intent was to rethink the already existing study areas and creating new inspiring places for students and employees. The placemaking of different zones within the building makes the faculty come alive and express its new identity through what was already there.