Called Stadskontor, it will include public and administrative premises for the city government, as well as housing.
The jury of the competition called the OMA version "the perfect combination of innovation and contextualism." The project consists of two parts, subordinated to a single modular system: the base will be given to the city administration, and above it, gradually receding back from the red line of the street, a structure of translucent glass residential blocks will rise, forming two "peaks" at the top. It will be possible to arrange gardens on the roof-terraces of these modules, and the resulting complex outline of the building will allow it to more easily fit into the multi-temporal development of the city center.
Individual modules can be removed or added during operation, or their purpose can be changed: housing can be turned into offices, or offices into apartments.
The task of the competition required the architects to pay special attention to resource efficiency: the new town hall was supposed to be the most environmentally friendly building in the Netherlands. Therefore, the OMA project provides for a system for the intake and storage of warm air in summer for heating the building in winter, and vice versa, as well as an innovative method of thermal insulation of the glass facade, which does not reduce its transparency.
