UNESCO heritage and contemporary architecture. Pavilion Puur.

The brief was to revamp a UNESCO world heritage site of great historical value – Fort Diemerdam, part of the Stelling of Amsterdam – and the architectural firm emma architecen responded with a contemporary building.



The Stelling of Amserdam was a line of defence constructed between 1880 and 1914, formed of 46 fortresses, trenches and dykes and was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1996. Local authorities decided to redevelop it as a historical site and give it environmental protection, given that it is within cycling distance of the city of Amsterdam and suitable for multiple uses.



The brief was for a visitor pavilion inside the old military structure. The architects from Emma were faced with a major challenge: to design a modern-day building without touching the historical architecture, with a view to the past.





The resulting pavilion has rectangular a stone foundation, at 60 cm under floor level, and is located on the exact site of a former soldiers’ shelter. The building’s curved walls are clad in wooden shingles, the colour of which will age in time to closely resemble the solid facades of the concrete and stone bunkers and shelters dotted nearby.





The feeling of sustainability not only comes through the decision to offer citizens a recreational space, accessible by bike, but also in the design solutions adopted – air heat pumps for heating the building and biologically purified water.





The location can be hired for events and parties and in summer its doors are open for Sunday outings and cultural amusement steeped in local history.

Architects: emma architecten  http://www.emma-architecten.nl

Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Paviljoen Puur
Year: 2012

Photographs: John Lews Marshall, John van Helvert 
Link: UNESCO World Heritage and leisure http://www.floornature.com/blog/i-sassi-di-matera-a-world-heritage-site-to-live-in-7993/, more from emma architecten http://www.floornature.com/blog/a-sustainable-restaurant-in-the-dunes-emma-architecten-8413/