Laboratorium, Anthony Fokkerweg 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

Introduction

The main building, COMPONENT of the National Aerospace Laboratory, was designed by H.A. Maaskant and W. van Tijen in 1938-1939 with the assistance of concrete engineer G.J. Meyers and built in 1939-1941, originally for the purpose of performing strength calculations, testing materials and measuring instruments and conferring on technical matters concerning aviation and aircraft construction.

Description

The elongated main building consists of a basement building volume of four storeys (fourteen bays) and a section of two storeys (five bays). The overhanging concrete shell roofs above the long facades are provided with a raised gutter line and are supported at the end facades by consoles. The building consists of a concrete skeleton of nineteen curved concrete trusses between which the facades are filled with brickwork of brown brick and window sections. The trusses are placed at regular intervals, with the exception of the tall entrance hall which is two bays wide. Above some windows, concrete canopies have been provided as sun shading. On the front facade (N) the tall glazed entrance of the entrance hall marks the (original) division between the office section to the right and the workshops and laboratories to the left. The main entrance is located in the front facade under the glazed entrance, to the right of centre under a concrete canopy supported by concrete consoles. On the canopy stand steel letters reading "Nationaal lucht- en ruimtevaartlaboratorium". The entrance consists of a three-part glazed facade with a double glazed door in the centre in a built-out vestibule with rounded corners. In front of the entrance lies a paved floor of square flagstones. The glazed entrance is constructed from rectangular windows with a segmental arch at the level of the fourth storey. To the left of the entrance is a built-out porter's lodge with rounded corners and a window strip running around the corner above a white tiled balustrade. To the right of the entrance, the ground floor is also provided with rounded corners and a window strip of rectangular upright casements running around the corner above a balustrade clad with black tiles. The ground floor here is recessed below the far-projecting tall-built conference room, which is supported by a freestanding concrete portal frame with splayed ends. The curved masonry facade has a large composite five-part window section. On the third storey are two glazed bay windows with rounded corners and a double glazed door between sidelights opening onto the terrace on the flat roof above the first floor. In the end west facade on the ground floor between the truss members is an arched window strip above a black-tiled balustrade. The slightly projecting masonry first floor, in which some smaller windows are placed, continues, with a small break, to the rear facade. Under the overhang on the ground floor of the rear facade are tiled balustrades with window sections and to the left a curved bay window. On the front facade, the ground floor to the left of the entrance hall is articulated by nine large four-part window sections on masonry balustrades. The projecting first and second floors consist largely of horizontal window strips above balustrades, which are laid on the concrete floor plates. In some bays the windows are shortened at the base. The set-back loft storey is provided across the entire front facade with four-part windows between the truss members. The rear facade has a similar arrangement.

The five bays of the low building volume on the north-east side are likewise filled with four-part windows above masonry balustrades. The floor partition consists of a heavy concrete floor. The end east facade of the low building volume has above the blind ground floor an arched double door section under a lifting beam. The end east facade of the tall volume contains on the fourth storey a window strip under a segmental arch and a substantial masonry chimney section. The third storey is blank.

Interior: The original open design of the entrance hall with staircase and voids has been preserved intact internally. The hall is provided with a floor of tiles in mosaic pattern and has in the porter's lodge a tiled balustrade.

Valuation

The New Objectivity main building of the complex "Nationaal Lucht- en Ruimtevaartlaboratorium" from 1938-1941 is of general importance because of its architectural-historical value as the first expression of combined use of modern and traditional materials and a distinctive example from the oeuvre of Maaskant and Van Tijen. The main building is furthermore of general importance because of the cultural-historical value lying in its original function and closely connected with the scientific and technical development of aviation and aircraft construction in the Netherlands.