De Zwarte Hond visits Leiden
Last week we had our annual excursion, a moment for all the colleagues of our four branches come together. This time, the program took place in the city of Leiden, since one of our newest projects was recently completed there: Herta Mohr at the Faculty of Humanities.
We started the day with a presentation by architect/partner Bart Van Kampen and project leader Marco Overwijk that went into more detail about the project, its context and challenges. Herta Mohr is a transformation project of the original building complex by architect Joop van Stigt. The building is part of KCAP’s urban plan that aims to better connect Leiden University’s campus buildings.
For the execution, we collaborated with Combinatie Cluster Zuid: Constructif, Nelissen ingenieursbureau and Kuijpers. In addition, HARRYVAN, New Horizon, Bwri, Pieters Bouwtechniek BV, Buro Bouwfysica, DGMR and Fokkema & Partners Architects were closely involved.
The building consists of seven ‘houses’, of which we demolished the middle section and replaced by a new heart with one large main entrance. In the new situation, everyone can orient themselves from this central hall, with its new roof that lets in abundant daylight. The new heart represents connection and knowledge exchange, essential ingredients for science. After the presentation, our colleagues could freely stroll around the building or take part in a tour of Cluster North, a new renovation project of the university that De Zwarte Hond is currently working on.
In the afternoon, we took a walk through the Singelpark, a 6,5-kilometre-long city park created on the initiative of the residents of Leiden, with a design by LOLA Landscape Architects. The day ended in the Hortus Botanicus near the observatory where we toasted to the past six months at the water. Now it is time for a well-deserved summer!