Jakoba Mulderhuis by Powerhouse Company

Jakoba Mulderhuis

Forming a welcoming gateway to the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences campus, our new Conradhuis building bridges the academic world and the city.

It gracefully embraces the past through a dynamic relationship with its surroundings, while its flexible interior leaves space to accommodate future educational requirements.

Advancing the notion of furthering knowledge through personal exchanges, a high degree of transparency and fluidity places meetings and accidental encounters at the heart of the building, in our soaring, light-filled atrium.

Educational theatre of the future
Jakoba Mulderhuis is all about inspiring the cross-pollination of ideas in an open, creative environment. The flexible set-up allows teaching staff to customize their rooms with a mixture of teaching forms and spatial set-ups: group work at table islands, classrooms, labs, quiet study places, and meeting areas – so-called blended learning.

As we partly are the first generation of Amsterdam UAS graduates to have been taught on the basis of project-oriented education in the former Leeuwenburg building, we gave our positive experiences of blended learning maximum expression in the new design. “Education is changing rapidly, so flexibility is central to the design,” Nanne de Ru, Founder.

A strong connection
All storeys lead into the atrium and have open terraces where students can work on their projects. The atrium lends the building an open character with plenty of natural daylight.

What we had in mind was a new public sphere serving as a theatrical space for major events and exhibitions on the ground floor and as tiered platforms where students from different disciplines will meet up. A place that fosters creativity and where people enjoy meeting up to show off their work and share their knowledge.

“The design was produced with the future users of the Faculty of Technology firmly in mind; Jakoba Mulderhuis was designed as ‘teaching material’ by rendering architectural solutions visible.

The open character fosters the sharing of knowledge in a natural way. It is a veritable technological showcase,” says Stefan Prins, Partner Architect.

Future-proof flexibility
Education, research, professional practice, and the local area all converge in Jakoba Mulderhuis. We chose a rhythmic play of the façade imbued with subtle psychology. Its pattern runs upwards from left to right and is visible from all angles.

The Jura limestone connects to the color tone of the adjacent Theo Thijssenhuis, ensuring harmony with the surroundings and reinforcing the monumental, future-proof character. “The open environment promotes the communication of knowledge in a natural way,” says Stefan Prins, Partner Architect.

Jakoba Mulderhuis on Rhijnspoorplein is the Amstel Campus’s grand finale, situated on Wibautstraat. The building will accommodate some 6,000 to 7,000 students from the Faculty of Technology, encompassing approximately 25,000 m2 worth of teaching programmes.

It will officially be opened during the opening ceremony for the new academic year on 1 September 2022. Source by Powerhouse Company.

  • Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Architect: Powerhouse Company
  • Architect in charge: Marc Koehler Architects
  • Interior design: Ex Interiors and Studio Groen+Schild
  • Construction: Visser & Smit Bouw, Unica, ABT, LBP Sight, Royal Haskoning DHV,
  • Primary user: Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of
  • Technology
  • Client: Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS)
  • Gross floor area: 25,000 m2
  • Year: 2022
  • Photographs: Sebastian van Damme, Courtesy of Powerhouse Company