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CONCEPT AND SHAPE
‘Baken’ is a Dutch word for an important visual point that everyone will recognise from far away, just like a lighthouse on a rocky coast. In this case, Het Baken is the name of a significantly shaped housing complex in the town of Deventer in mid-Holland.
The idea of designing such a special shape was a deliberate attempt to create something very different from the surroundings in what was in fact just a normal eight-storeyed apartment project. Something that would be a visual eye-catcher and a conversation topic mainly because of its peculiar shape. As a study-reference, the architects worked with a copy of the Swiss mountain Matterhorn in a climbing hall in Rotterdam. The model was accessible from the outside, but one could also climb on the inside of it.
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The design philosophy from that point of view seemed to be the very simple: Why not make apartments in such a form?
Being cut out of a monolithic cube, the shape of Het Baken differs from three
stories to eight, which reduces the voluminous character of the building and gradually is absorbed by the form. This also allows daylight to penetrate the building. From a visual point the building has been cantilevered at the ground level which – together with the use of a lot of glass – makes it appear very light and crispy.
INTERIOR
Inside, the building with its eight levels
creates a very special and quite unique room flow and division. The balconies have been made as precise cutout ‘caves’ in the smooth façade-surface, which lets daylight play and forms the inner shape of the ‘rock/mountain’.
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