Nutsbedrijf, Molenstraat 85

English translation

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Description

Introduction.

North of Helden-Dorp, on the northwest corner of the Onderseveld roundabout between Schrames and the Molenstraat situated TRANSFORMER BUILDING, built in 1933 by an architect of the N.V. Provinciale Limburgsche Electriciteits-Maatschappij. Typologically it is a rare variant of a standard type previously developed by the P.L.E.M. The outward appearance shows style elements of the Nieuwe Haagse School which was gaining favour at the time. The electricity was supplied by the 'Stroomverkoopmaatschappij'.

In the nineteen-twenties of the 20th century the mostly sheet-iron transformer pillars in the village centres were replaced by stone transformer houses. Later stone houses were also built outside the centres, such as at this roundabout on the outgoing road towards Maasbree. In the transformer house the high-voltage current from the electricity station, brought back to 10,000 volts (10 kv.) via substations, is converted into low voltage; 220 volts for household and similar use and 380 volts for installations and businesses that need three-phase current. During the Second World War the transformer house played an important role as a central telephone post of the resistance.

Description.

The almost box-shaped transformer house occupies a square ground plan and has one storey under a flat roof with large overhang. The brick house is predominantly built in Flemish bond with recessed joint, the roof is of gravel aggregate concrete and rests on a projecting course of bricks and hard stone corner blocks, doors and shutters are of iron. The transformer house is bordered with a two-and-a-half-brick step on which on the right side there is a secondary ventilation grille.

The brickwork is enlivened by the application of (partly continuous) string courses for under- and over-sills and at the crowning of projecting building parts. Furthermore especially the southeast corner most visible from the roundabout is decorated by a ventilation shaft rising above the roof, recognizable by the ventilation caps on either side of the head and necessary to remove the heat generated by the transformer. The shaft is built in brick with projection and rests on a projecting block. At the location of the ventilation shaft the roof slab is playfully interrupted. Doors and shutters, articulated by casements and fitted with the authentic plaques of the Stroomverkoopmaatschappij ('LIFE-THREATENING / HIGH VOLTAGE'), give access to the switches and transformers. The high- and low-voltage spaces are separated: the single door in the east facade (front) and the shutters in the south and north facade give access to the high-voltage space and the double door in the west facade (rear) gives access to the low-voltage space. The electricity is supplied and removed via underground cables.

Valuation.

The transformer building is of general importance. The object possesses cultural-historical values as an expression of electricity provision in the nineteen-thirties of the twentieth century and because of the special role which the object has played in the Second World War. Furthermore as a variant of a standard type previously developed by the Provinciale Limburgsche Electriciteits-Maatschappij it is of importance for the typological development of transformer buildings in Limburg.

The object has architectural-historical value as a sober, provincial variant of the building style of the Nieuwe Haagse School and because of the craftsman-like, careful brickwork particularly of the corner solution on the southeast side. The object has rarity value since transformer houses with the foregoing appearance were realized by the P.L.E.M. in Limburg only rarely. The object has remained substantially intact.