ARCHITECTUURGIDS.NL / ARCHITECTUREGUIDE.NL

KNOWLEDGE CENTRE FIFTYTWODEGREES

MECANOO, 2004-2007, Jonkerbosplein 52, Nijmegen

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Mecanoo

DESIGN ENGINEER:
Ove Arup & partners

PROJECT ARCHITECT:
Francine Houben
Francesco Veenstra

BUILDING TYPE:
Buildings for education

This business innovation centre takes its name from its location on the 52nd parallel, in a reference to international cooperation in the exchange of knowledge. A gently angled tower stands on a raked green-roofed plinth containing a parking facility, a dispatch bay and a plaza of shops and social spaces. The facade of the angled tower has horizontal precast cladding units in a pattern resembling scattered pixels. These units come in three types: mat black aluminium sandwich panels, panes of glass, and expanded metal panels at opening windows. They are arranged in such a way that individual storeys cannot be identified, so that the tower registers as a monolithic sculpture.