The cultural heart of Zwolle

For the municipality of Zwolle, we designed Culture Centre Het Anker. A new complex on the edge of the city, connecting the neighborhoods of Westenholte and Stadshagen. The building features a community center with catering facilities, a divisible sports hall, and several multifunctional rooms for music, dance, and education.

In addition to serving as a venue for sports, music, and culture, the building is known as a true meeting center. It is a place where you can drop in at any time of the week to meet others. A diverse group of users comes here, and the biggest challenge was therefore to design a building in which this diverse group feels connected.

This challenge has resulted in a building with a great deal of transparency and accessibility, creating a connection with the surrounding neighborhoods. By making use of the site's elevation difference, part of the building is set into the ground. From this landscape-based starting point, the building unfolds almost literally through the roof, which opens up towards the main public areas.

The building can be accessed via the first floor for pedestrians and via the ground floor for the parking area. Both entrances meet in the recessed facade and are connected by a staircase that runs from inside to outside. The deep vertical elements of the facade sometimes make the building appear closed, and the angle of view determines the visual connection with the interior. In this way, a building that values transparency as an important principle also gains sufficient concealment.