3XN: city hall and cultural centre

Danish architects 3XN have recently completed a new city hall and cultural centre in the city of Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. The architects sought to create "a building that was welcoming, rather than authoritarian in its expression," says 3XN founder and principal Kim Herforth Nielsen. "We have tried to create a building that can be a catalyst for social affiliation with the city." For the firm, a building expressing modern, participatory democracy requires transparency and communication at eye level in the encounter between citizen and authority.

Nieuwegein is located 5 kilometres south of Utrecht, and since 1970 the city has grown from having just 8,000 inhabitants to 62,000 inhabitants in 2012. The strong growth in population has caused stark demands for the city's administration, which has also grown, and is seeking to further develop the city socially and culturally.

Architecturally, the building departs from a central and bright atrium from where a sculptural staircase soars up and connects its many facilities – such as local library, citizen service centre, café, cultural centre and commercial spaces. Seeking to further engage with daily life of the citizens, the City Hall fuses with a range of everyday activities. This brings a flow of life to the building at all hours, and strengthens the connection to the commercial and residential area surrounding the building.

Five floors spread out like a fan and open up towards the atrium, allowing the building's visitors and employees to visually connect with what is happening on the other floors. The architects tried to maximize the benefits of daylight through use of windows, including an enormous picture window on the 4th floor, through which daylight streams down into the building.

The building has two façades. The innermost one is a traditional façade of concrete and glass, while the exterior façade of silkscreened glass folds around the building, without covering it completely. This avoids direct sunlight in work station areas, while spaces like the lobby and restaurant receive maximum natural daylight and unobstructed views over the city. Silkscreened to the façade are geometric patterns in blue and grey, which give it a three-dimensional expression.