Fortress Ellewoutsdijk
Re-use of a 19th century defense building as a Hotel, Business centre, Restaurant and Exhibition space. (study project)
In Ellewoutsdijk, a small village in the south of the Netherlands, one of the pieces of a 19th century defense system remains. In the last century the building was hardly used. The owner would like to invest in restoration of the building but needs extra income to achieve this.
In the redesign, the existing building will be completely reused. The casemates inside will be filled with new functions, and new volumes will be added to make the building more functional.
The fortress always used to be an island, only accessible by a bridge. The soldiers inhabiting the fortress had to be able to live for weeks in row without access to the outside world. In the new design this concept is also used. The energy is supplied by a biomass generator inside the building.
In the redesign the public functions will be separated from the commercial functions. The casemates will host the restaurant, hotel and business centre, while the exhibition function will be added to both the roof and the courtyard of the fortress. The roof will be pierced by staircases to bring people down in the building to exhibitions about the history of the fortress and the area. A new volume will be added to the courtyard functioning as an art exhibition area. The form of this building connects to the stairs leading to the fortress's roof.
Project details:
University: Delft University of Technology
Design Studio: RMIT MSc 2, Studio Ellewoutsdijk
Tutor: Lidy Meijers
Date: June 2011
