BasketBar – living the city. NL Architects

The project designed by NL Architetcs is part of OMA’s masterplan for intensification of a number of areas for urban use and reinforcement of the intrinsic quality of the existing landscape.

The result is the BasketBar, shaped like an empty swimming pool, combining different compositional elements in a single design: a basketball court projecting beyond the glass volume of the coffee bar and an urban meeting-place.

The 400 square metre roof is clearly oversized in relation to the layout of the coffee bar, which measures only 272 square metres.

Though raised to a privileged position, the basketball court does not sacrifice visual contact with its surroundings, thanks to a system of raised walkways linking the majority of Uithof buildings.

The glass central circle in the court is an interesting solution establishing a visual link with the interior of the bar below it, a space which in turn overlooks the furnished area frequented by university students.

Three separate elements linked by a single theme: making a more liveable city while at the same time creating a beating heart where people can meet to play and to share the same spaces and interests.


Design: NL Architects, http://www.nlarchitects.nl/
Client: Universiteit Utrecht Huisvesting, Aryan Sikkema
Location: Utrecht, NL
Year: 2003
Photographs: Bas Princen, Jeroen Musch, Luuk Kramer
Related links: Blok K, Funenpark: http://www.floornature.com/blog/blok-k-funenpark-residential-building-in-amsterdam-7779/, Das Netz - Urban Space Regained: http://www.floornature.com/blog/urban-space-regained-andldquodas-netzandrdquo-in-berlin-nl-architects-7700/, Interview with Kamiel Klaasse: http://www.floornature.com/architects/interviews/kamiel-klaasse-nl-architects-7703/

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