Kantoorgebouw, Koningsweg 66

English translation

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Description

Introduction.

The OFFICE BUILDING of the Provincial North Brabant Electricity Company (PNEM) was built in 1921 in Transitional architecture with Expressionist elements to designs by architects K.C. Suyling, Van Teefelen and De Nijs. It forms part of the PNEM complex built in the same period and style and is enclosed by Koningsweg, Van Diepenbeeckstraat, Van der Does de Willeboissingel and Van Bréautéstraat. The other complex components, originally consisting of a workshop, garage and archive building, fall outside the protection. The office building is prominently located on Koningsweg, which forms the main north-south axis in the district Het Zand.

Description.

The two-storey office building is built on a rectangular plan and has a concrete frame, while the façades are constructed of machine-made brick with natural stone ornaments and reliefs. The large, bent hipped roof is covered with slate. The roof dormers projecting from the lower roof slopes on three sides were enlarged in style in 1945. The façade has a symmetrical composition and is divided into bays by brick pilaster strips. The central bay contains on the ground floor the entrance with the non-original double door and on the first floor a brick oriel. Above the roof edge this bay continues in a gable which contains a tile tableau with the building year "1921". The original tile tableau above the front door inscribed "PNEM" was removed around 1995. The wide natural stone plinth is lightly profiled and transitions into the window sills. The three street façades are furnished with richly detailed reliefs in the natural stone bands between the windows of the ground floor and the first floor, and in the natural stone stepped relieving arches above the windows of the first floor. All windows, including those of the roof dormers, were replaced around 1995 and now have plastic frames, which approximate the original divisions. In the interior, columns and beams of the ornamented concrete frame are visible. On the ground floor and on the first floor, the floor and wainscoting of the hall are fitted with ceramic tiles. In both halls the counters with wooden frames are still present. On the ground floor they are richly detailed and fitted with leaded-glass windows. The meeting room and work rooms on the ground floor at the front have panelled wainscoting with richly detailed woodcarving. The meeting room also has associated wooden furniture and panelled pilasters. North of the entrance is the stairwell, consisting of natural stone steps, a wrought-iron balustrade in Art Deco style from 1939 and glazed tiles against the walls. On the first floor and attic storey the room arrangement has been altered.

Valuation.

The office building is of general importance. It has cultural-historical value as a good example of representative office construction in the Interwar period and represents the growth of electricity provision in North Brabant. It has architectural-historical value as an exponent of Transitional architecture, due to the detailing and originality of the design and as a representative of the work of architects Suyling, Van Teefelen and De Nijs. It has ensemble value due to the prominent location in the district Het Zand and as a defining element in the north-south axis of this district. It has been sufficiently well preserved and is rare as an example of office construction in Transitional architecture.