Kantoorgebouw, Ceresstraat 13

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

The OFFICE BUILDING of the brewery 'De Drie Hoefijzers' dates from 1926-'27 and was designed in the style of the New Den Haag School and Art Déco, commissioned by the management, by the Breda architectural firm F.P. Bilsen & Zoon, in collaboration with ir. A.M.J.J. Smits van Waesberghe. In December 1925 the construction was undertaken for f 141,000,- by M. Bakkeren from Princenhage.

The concrete skeleton of the central section of the office, including the staircase, was executed for f 118,300,- by the Bredasche Betonmaatschappij, which also manufactured the concrete foundations for f 35,000,-. Much of the natural stone was supplied by Sermon Frères (Antwerp).

On 5 June 1926 the foundation stone was laid and eighteen months later, on 17 December 1927 the building could be taken into use.

The well-preserved interior of the block-shaped building is executed in a business-like style with Art Déco elements.

After 1945 the building underwent no major internal alterations. The tasting room dating from 1927, fitted out as a Bavarian 'Bierstube', as well as the barber's salon opposite the commissioners' room, the service apartments, the small meeting room and the former library have been taken into office use. Also, in general, the furnishings (doors, wainscoting, wall and floor coverings) of the few office rooms on the ground floor have been simplified.

Description

The undercellared building has a rectangular floor plan, measures 45 x 25 metres, has partly one, partly two and three storeys and is covered by a collection of flat roofs. The central part of the building has a skeleton of reinforced concrete columns and beams, into which concrete floors have been laid.

The facades are clad with yellow brick in Dutch format, on a plinth of syenite.

Characteristic of the symmetrically arranged building are the projecting and recessing block-shaped masses, finished with slightly overhanging concrete canopies and cornices. In the front facade the emphasis is strongly on the tall, central entrance section, consisting of a risalit with the main entrance above which are leaded-glass windows and a bold high relief by J. van Lunteren, depicting the mastery and ordering of the elements by mankind, focused on the brewing business. The main entrance consists of a teak-wood wing door placed in a portico with stepped brickwork, with bronze push plates and door and fanlight with leaded-glass filling (H. de Rouw). Particularly notable are the lanterns placed above the side lights (Atelier Gispen), with colourful leaded glass.

The central entrance section is flanked by two-storey office buildings, each with four window bays. On the left part, in bronze capitals, until 1994 was the text: "Kantoorgebouw" (Office building).

This designation has been replaced, in typography after an old model, by the text: "Interbrew Nederland". To the left of the front door the foundation stone, inscribed with: "This building / was created / by / the successors / of the founder / of this industry / in memory / of which this / commemorative stone / was placed / by his / grandsons / Frans Smits Jzn / Frans Smits Fzn / Frans Smits CHzn / on the 5th June / 1926". The three-storey side risalits adjoining the office wings project slightly forward from the building line on the ground floor, but step back considerably at the level of the second storey. Here balconies have been applied. The arrangement of the rear facade corresponds with that of the front facade, except that the staircase is set further back from the building line, the windows are wider and on the side of the brewery house is a service entrance. Here too the facade of the staircase is crowned by a high relief by Van Lunteren, here simply with three horseshoes, set in a semicircle, with below it the year: "anno 1927". The offices on the ground floor here are only single-storey, but when laying the foundations account was taken of the construction of a second, and possibly a third storey.

Centrally in the interior is the substantial staircase, which extends over the full height of the building. The ground floor is occupied by office and archive spaces; the latter with an archive cellar and original safe deposit boxes and double, built-in safe behind steel sliding gates (Fa. Lips, Dordrecht). On the first floor are situated the various directors' rooms and the large meeting room, while on the second floor (and a small part of the first) the service apartments for the bureau chief (western side) and the caretaker (eastern side) were located.

The layout, as well as the furnishings of the interior are very well preserved, particularly in the central hall, corridors and directors' and meeting rooms. Within the protection fall, among others, the many natural stone and (marble, hardstone, syenite) elements such as floors, steps, fireplace mantels and wainscoting (by which almost the entire concrete skeleton, as well as the radiators are hidden from view), as well as the tilework, the fittings of lamps and the chandelier (with inscription "gift from the staff / 1887-1937"), the leaded-glass windows and dome, the bronze edge strips and the wainscoting, doors and parquet floors made from, among others, teak, according to designs of and executed by, among others: wainscoting and furniture; architect P. Bilsen (Breda), C. Kras of the Firm H. Pander (The Hague): lamp fittings; Atelier Gispen (Rotterdam), Atelier Winkelman (Amsterdam), Firm Van Gelder & Van Ginkel (The Hague); glazier H. de Rouw (Delft), Atelier De Oude Vest (Delft) and Atelier W. Bogtman (Haarlem): tilework; Atelier De Porceleyne Flesch (Delft): ironwork: Firma Ringlever (Rotterdam): parquet floor; Firma Lachapelle (Breda).

Particular attention is deserved by, among others, the four-part leaded-glass window by H. de Rouw in the staircase, symbolising fortune and misfortune in constructive labour, represented by the themes "Light and Joy", "Youth and Age", "Labour and Wisdom" and "Darkness and Suffering". Below this window, in a niche, the bronze bust of F.H.M. Smits (by Prof. Bart van Hove, 1912), with on a marble plaque in capitals the inscription "To the founder / of this industry / in / memory / the / grateful staff / 1887-1912". Particularly remarkable is the openwork terra-cotta balustrade of the landing of the staircase on the first floor. Of note also are the leaded-glass windows in the corridors of the ground floor donated by the banking house C. Ingen-Housz, with, among others, barley ears and the family coats of arms.

In the corridors lies the original, sound-dampening Walton linoleum on rubber base. In the main directors' room, among others above the wrought-iron fireplace in marble mantel a mirror, crowned by a palisander wood carving, depicting three horseshoes. In the commissioners' room is still, among others, part of the original furniture (desk, wall table, small table). Also the fireplace with open hearth and the wainscoting of the meeting room are authentic. The leaded-glass windows in the fanlights of the windows symbolise physics, mechanics and biochemistry. The corridors on the first floor are tiled, partly with a 'three-horseshoe' motif, and have Art Déco windows.

From the former library access to the so-called tower room is via a special staircase, secured with hinged, fold-up steps, where previously special personal items were stored. Also particularly noteworthy are constructional innovations, including central heating, which drew hot water from the brewery, clocks on central power, the public address system with light signals, the double locks on the doors, and various moveable items, such as umbrella and ashtray stands, placed at every door. In various toilet facilities the original porcelain urinals are still present.

Valuation

The office building is of general importance because of the type of office building, executed in both an internally and externally particularly rich form of New Den Haag School and Art Déco. Great attention has been paid to forms and materials. Both the exterior of the building and the layout, the fittings and the furnishings are well preserved and as such the building is one of the rarest examples of richly executed industrial offices from before the crisis of 1929 in this country. Furthermore, the building is of importance as a historical, visual and functional part of the complex. Finally, the building is of importance because of its place in the oeuvre of the architect.