Electriciteitsfabriek Schiehaven

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

ELECTRICITY STATION, "Electriciteitsfabriek Schiehaven", consisting of the adjoining construction of the accumulator and office building, switchgear building and engine room and the perimeter fencing of the industrial site, built in 1904-1905 to a design in Transitional Architecture by the architect (Municipal Works) A.J.Th. Kok.

N.B. The electricity factory originally consisted of several more adjoining building components (boiler house, rest room, pump room). From the moment of completion, parts of the complex have been demolished, rebuilt and extended. Only the accumulator and office building, the switchgear building and the engine room remain representative of the original situation and fall under national protection. The chimney was demolished in 1994.

Description

The electricity station was built on the pier between the Schiehaven and the St.Jobshaven on a rectangular site parallel to Lloydstraat. The site of the electricity station is bounded on the north side by a wall with masonry piers with saddle-back tops between which wrought-iron railings (partly still original). The building is built on a foundation of piles and a continuous concrete slab and around a concrete skeleton built up in brick, with natural stone details and decorative brickwork. The various building volumes are provided with various roofs. The accumulator and office building is partly provided with a hipped roof (parallel to Lloydstraat) and has a flat roof behind it. The switchgear building located between the accumulator building and the engine room has a flat roof. The engine room has a flat roof (projecting over the long facades). The accumulator and office volume stands parallel to Lloydstraat, is built on a rectangular ground plan (37 m x 9 m) and comprises a basement, four storeys and a roof storey. The front facade is built above a natural stone plinth in brick and provided with natural stone sills and springers in the string courses. The frames of the (sash) windows are of timber. The roof is covered with tiles and is provided with a gutter on wooden corbels. The symmetrical facade is nine window bays wide. The central window bay is built higher by means of a roof dormer with a pointed gable framed in natural stone. The entrance on the ground floor, a wooden profiled front door with a glazed panel and decorative ironwork, is provided with a decorative natural stone surround with a round arch. The surround contains at the top the inscription: "Electriciteitsfabriek Schiehaven" and four images referring to the function. The first to third storey of the central window bay contain a tall rectangular window flanked by equally tall but very narrow window openings. In the pointed gable on the roof there is a door with an iron balustrade in front of it. All other window bays contain two rectangular windows per storey. The sills of the ground floor are drawn through as a string course. The sills on the first storey are drawn through per two windows. On the upper storeys each window has its own, distinct sill. Below each window on the first to third storey there is a small rectangular ventilation opening with a natural stone drip moulding. On the first to third storey the wall sections are partly provided with speckled courses. On the first storey above these speckled courses there are laid-out dentil courses.

At the level of the third storey, between the window bays there are decorative wall anchors. On the roof above each window bay there is a rectangular roof dormer with two-part window and the roof shields above the gable ends also each carry a roof dormer. The side facades (north and south) of the building are no longer visible due to later, adjacent extensions. Internally the rooms are located on the Lloydstraat side with a corridor at the rear of each storey. The stairwell is located in the centre. The building partly retains the original tile wall cladding and floors. The stairwell still partly contains the original wrought-iron stair balustrade.

The accumulator and office building is internally connected to the switchgear house adjoining to the west (approximately 31.5 x 8m). Both buildings share the same stairwell and are therefore not substantially distinguishable from each other spatially. The (undercellared) switchgear house is however shorter and lower and comprises a (higher) basement storey and two storeys under a flat roof. The switchgear house contains on the second (higher) storey a "switchboard room" built out into the engine room from which the machines could be observed. This switchboard room has been substantially rebuilt. The side facades of the former switchgear house are no longer visible due to later extensions. The (undercellared) engine room (72.5 x 23m) contains the most impressive space of the station. Of the original external facades (with higher laid-up corners) practically nothing is visible because the building is largely "wrapped" by extensions and the northern gable end is moreover provided with profiled steel facade boarding. The internal walls are built in white pressed stone (Van der Loo firm, Dieren) with the use of Silesian glazed stone for wall cladding and bands. The long facades contain 12 window bays, the gable ends 3 window bays. At the level of the engine room, there is a large round arch per window bay, beneath which blind niches are located on the long facades. Only at the location of the switchboard room are the round arches open. At the top of the facades there are three (narrow) rectangular windows per window bay with steel glazing bars. These windows can be opened from a continuous walkway which is accessible by a spiral staircase and which also serves as access to the (original) assembly overhead crane. This overhead crane is moveable along rails (below the windows) over the entire length of the engine room. The gable end facades had the same layout, albeit that steel windows were also located here in the round arches. The side facades have been modified by extensions (southerly) and applied facade boarding (northerly). Between the window bays of the long facades are the riveted iron roof trusses with N-beams and a curved lower edge that support the timber (flat) roof. The floor of the engine room is in open connection with the basement storey at several locations. Partly the original tiles are still present on the floor.

Valuation

"Electriciteitsfabriek Schiehaven", built in 1904-1905 to a design in Transitional Architecture by the (Municipal Works) architect A.J.Th. Kok, is of general interest by virtue of its architectural-historical, cultural-historical and typological value and especially by virtue of its ensemble value within the harbour industrial landscape of the Schiehaven area.