Sculptural weaving
The Vitens office building is a landmark for the IJsseloord industrial estate in Arnhem. This is why the architects at GroupA chose a very robust appearance, which is accentuated by the dark, brickwork wall. The combination of bricks in the brickworks plays a fascinating game with the daylight and is the result of an intensive design process.
Despite the fact that the master plan for the IJsseloord industrial estate was stringent in its prescription specification of yellow bricks for wall brickwork, the architects opted for two black variants. Joep Fessl of GroupA said: ‘The Vitens office building was designated as a landmark and we were therefore permitted to deviate from the restrictions. We used this fact to create a robust sculpture of the building, a heavy object with a stone wall and felt this effect can best be accentuated with bricks.’
Pattern Nevertheless, the architects did not immediately decide to use black bricks. Fessl said: ‘To give the building abstractness, so that the form is expressed more clearly, we introduced a wave. Areas of 180 by 540 mm filled with different bricks.’ In the first instance the architects had chosen a contrast between black bricks and a much lighter variant, thereby creating a ‘chess board’ pattern. ‘In a subsequent design phase we searched for a way to make the colour difference more subtle, for example by using different textures. We fleshed out this idea, eventually choosing engobed, shiny black press bricks and far more matt hand-made bricks.’
Glisten Proving that one black brick can differ enormously from another is demonstrated nicely by the brick duo used in this project. The bricks with engobe play with the light in such a way that their surfaces appear almost white when reflecting at a certain angle. The matt bricks seem to absorb the light, which makes them a stable colour factor. It is precisely the variation in the bricks that makes a stroll around the building a true spectacle. Fessl added: ‘We produced test pieces on site in order to test the bricks and the joints in the correct light. The search for the correct joints becomes very complex– at a certain point you are discussing differences in shade. A joint that is too close in colour to the brick means that you see an evenly coloured area and no longer notice the nuancing in the brickwork. An excessively light joint has a negative effect on the pattern. The choice was made for a joint that is a little lighter than the bricks.’ The eventual result still looks woven, despite the combination of two black bricks. Fessl: ‘It is precisely the interplay of the light with the wall pattern that makes this building special.’
Facing bricks: Wienerberger Beerse - Agora Zwart, hand shaped Wienerberger Oosterhout - Fusion, extruded
Details: - Interwoven surfaces - Brickwork fitted as clamps
