Kunstzijdefabriek, Akulaan 2

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

Description component 2: WEST WING with GATE BUILDING.

Introduction

The large L-shaped west wing of the ARTIFICIAL SILK FACTORY (indicated under number 2 on the accompanying map) was realized in 1928 in a single construction phase according to a design by the former military engineer jhr. J.M. van den Bosch, employed at the Enka Central Building Department. Van den Bosch was also responsible for the design of the old carré, of which the northwestern corner tower from 1919-1922 is included as a component of the new gate building. All iron structures were supplied by Henri Pélerin of the "Ateliers de Construction" from Courcelles in Belgium (Wallonia), who as constructor was responsible for the then innovative ironwork of the shed-roofed building behind the facades. The total construction costs were estimated at 300,000 guilders. The west wing was built in a factory architecture that was then fairly common, characterized by a rational design with strictly horizontally and vertically articulated facades. These are generally executed quite soberly, although particularly in the detailing some influences from Expressionism and Art Déco are discernible. In 1941, a long extension was realized on part of the western exterior facade in connection with the production of milk wool, also designed by Van den Bosch. The west wing adjoins a museum oriented east-west from 1925 (later industrial fire brigade) to the south, which falls outside the protection.

The new wing proved necessary as the factory was considered too small almost immediately after completion. The number of staff could increase to as many as 5,200 people by this extension in 1929. The Dutch Artificial Silk Factory thereby began to count considerably on a global scale. This wing was originally built mainly for the purpose of thread production, served during the war years for the production of milk wool, and from 1947 to 1998 housed the renowned Enka sponge department. On the south side lay a combing mill, where initially the milk wool underwent further processing. When milk wool production was not continued after the war, the combing mill nevertheless remained operational for a long time, due to a great shortage of wool combing mills after the war. The offices were housed in the gate building, among other things.

Description

The west wing is composed of two building volumes at right angles to each other that form an L-shaped ground plan. Together with a third, unprotected building volume, a large, rectangular green inner courtyard is enclosed. This continues the spatial character of the adjoining carré, which also had an inner courtyard.

The inner courtyard is crossed by various factory roads, mostly paved with clinkers and Stelcon plates. The main line is the north-south axis, which leads from the gate building to the former water basin. Since ancient times, the west wing and courtyard were also crossed east-west by various railway lines branching off from the central railway yard. For this purpose, various, mostly covered passages in the building mass were left open in the west wing (as well as the carré), so that freight trains could approach the boiler house. The architectural concept of the west wing with gate building also continues that of the old carré. Characteristic is the distinction that exists between the representative and strictly articulated brick exterior walls, which frame the greater part of this west wing, and the behind-enclosed factory halls beneath saw roofs.

The exterior walls of the factory halls, bonded in running bond, show a strict alternating system of wall piers and recesses, in which four windows per bay (originally dark-coloured nine-pane windows with dropping frames) are enclosed. The facades are articulated horizontally and enlivened with a decoratively bonded dentil course and a concrete cornice that terminates the facades. Vertical articulation is provided by various (corner) pilasters, which penetrate through this cornice and are crowned with a concrete pyramid cap. On the inner courtyard side this facade is absent and it is visible that the structure of the factory halls consists of 21 interconnected saw roofs. Each saw roof is composed of a long roof plane oriented to the south, covered with oxidized Tuile-du-Nord tiles, and a short glazed roof plane, facing north for even interior lighting. Gutters drain to the courtyard side. Facades again articulated by means of wall piers and recesses and crowned with the asymmetrical gable ends of the sheds, executed with slight overhang, resting on white blocks and finished with wind braces. The construction of the factory halls consists of an advanced system of riveted and bolted floating braced frames of 7.5 metres each, which at the apex, and not at the base points, are additionally supported by transversely placed solid-web braced beams in combination with various rolled underslung beams. This new construction made the presence of additional supporting columns largely unnecessary both in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The entire braced frame structure therefore needed to be supported only at one point with an additional row of iron columns in the relatively wide halls, allowing the operational spaces to be laid out optimally. A salient detail is formed by the horizontal profile iron ends of the construction which protrude through the brick facade on the courtyard side as "extensions future". Wooden roof boards and purlins on the inside finished with expanded metal provided with a white plaster layer for optimal light transmission. The construction of the flat-roofed and skylight-provided northwestern extension from 1941 (milk wool production) consists, however, of a reinforced concrete skeleton, because the chemical fumes of the chemicals used here would not be compatible with an iron braced frame structure.

The flat-roofed gate building is formed by the old northwestern corner tower of the carré and a newly built pendant with central section. The gate building has a concrete frame and likewise floors with brick walls bonded in running bond. Central section somewhat elevated and slightly projecting, otherwise accentuated and enlivened by the use of various expressive details in concrete and masonry. The corner pilasters project above the roof edge and, like the roof edge, are provided with concrete covering plates. On the pilasters narrow vertically bonded bands crossing corner-wise, on which originally flag poles were located. Centrally in the middle section the round-arched gate, bordered with a concrete arch, with porters' lodges on either side beneath continuous concrete roof with slight overhang. Monumental wrought-iron gate work removed. On either side of the entrance jubilee lanterns have been placed, on the left with the year of establishment "1922" and on the right "1947". Above the gate a broad concrete drip moulding has been applied and two rows of closed windows above which there is an empty casement. Originally the letters "ENKA" were in it. Current letters, on the roof, only recently added. Lower four-storey corner towers three bays long and deep, separated from each other by bonded pilasters. Each bay encloses two closed windows per storey (originally dark-coloured two-part windows with four-pane fanlights). Other detailing corresponding, but more modest. The interior layout essentially unchanged. Vestibule with plaque: "1922 - 20 JANUARY 1947 / ON THE OCCASION OF THE / 25TH ANNIVERSARY / OF THE FACTORY EDE / TWO BRONZE LANTERNS / WERE PRESENTED TO THE / MANAGEMENT / BY THE COMBINED STAFF". The central hall on the ground floor has a black and white checkered marble tile floor and a white marble wall lining bordered with red marble veined white. Corridor paved with polychrome mosaic floor characteristic of the late twenties.

Valuation

The west wing with gate building of the ARTIFICIAL SILK FACTORY with the behind-lying courtyard is of general importance:

- the object has cultural-historical values as a particular expression of the explosively increased demand for viscose products since the nineteen-twenties of the twentieth century, as a leading exponent of the second industrial revolution, and because of its importance for the typological development of factory buildings;

- the object has architectural and construction-historical values because of the applied construction technique with riveted floating braced frames, because of the large scale in which saw roofs are applied, and because of the aesthetic qualities of in particular the gate building with the ornamentation, detailing and preserved interior elements applied herein;

- the object has urban planning and ensemble values because of the functional siting on the groundwater-rich and rail-accessible former Schraaljammerheide, because of the coherence with the other buildings and the railway lines and factory roads that have run (under)through the object since time immemorial, and as a visually defining component of the historic buildings on the south side of the Arnhem-Utrecht railway line;

- finally, the object has rarity value as the last large-scale factory building that remains in the Netherlands from the historical artificial silk industry.