New art store in Delft

Radius”, a center for contemporary art and ecology, has opened in Delft. Delft architects DP6 have redesigned a historic water reservoir and pump house for this purpose.

Many cities are home to magnificent, historic infrastructure buildings from the century before last. They are often listed buildings and local authorities are desperately looking for new uses – and donors – to preserve these sometimes highly decorative memorabilia. These include water towers. One of the most famous and largest towers, for example, caused a sensation when it was converted into a hotel: it is a huge round brick building in Cologne, built in 1864, decommissioned in 1930, opened as a hotel in 1990 and originally furnished by the well-known Parisian designer Andrée Putman.

The Dutch city of Delft has also been thinking about the subsequent use of its century-old industrial monument. It consists of a water tower, a pump house and an underground water reservoir at the foot of the tower. The facility stood empty for many years and only became a listed building in 2002. It has now been opened as the “Radius” art and ecology center. The Delft architectural firm DP6 has redesigned the buildings, adding an attractive entrance area and atmospheric exhibition rooms. For reasons of monument protection and also because of the “mission” of the center, it was important to the architects to proceed with minimal effort and to use simple, resource-saving materials and low-tech building technology.

The pump house and water tower are surrounded by the “Kalverbos” park, another historically significant small garden area on the northern edge of Delft city center. It was part of the city fortifications centuries ago and became a cemetery between 1829 and 1874. The water tower on the site dates back to 1896 and was extended in 1918 with a pump house and a large round basin below ground to store over two million liters of drinking water. The old concrete walls still show thick traces of lime today.

Exhibitions can now be seen in these underground halls. The exhibits – videos, light art and much more – focus on ecological themes with the help of contemporary art, while the rough, untreated walls form a robust backdrop. The management of the center works together with artists and ecologists, among others, to bring environmental issues closer to the population in lectures, seminars and exhibitions at this new location.

The architects have created a stimulating and varied atmosphere in the 500 square meter reservoir with minimal interventions and effective lighting effects. They have designed a circular route in concentric circles, with the rough walls interrupted at regular intervals to provide passages and views. The earth masses all around insulate and cool, so that the building services could be reduced to a minimum. To avoid unpleasant sound reflections, perforated birch wood panels are installed from time to time. The only visible installation is suspended from the ceiling in the form of a continuous track for lighting, projectors and information. The existing circumferential maintenance corridors are now used as benches and exhibition space, and electricity and heating cables can be concealed underneath.

Access to the art center has been relocated to the former pump house. There, a free-standing plywood housing serves as a bookshop in the entrance hall, while staircases to the left and right of it lead either down into the warehouse or up to the cafeteria on the mezzanine.

This use saved the Delft monument from decay. Last but not least, the initiative and perseverance of a private sponsor have turned this historic site into an attractive public attraction. In addition, attention is once again drawn to the small romantic garden. The 29-metre-high water tower, built in the so-called Dutch Neo-Renaissance style, can also be visited.

Radius, Center for Contemporary Art and Ecology, Delft, NL: www.radius-cca.org

Read more about another example of a monument and new use here: the grain silo in Berlin.