Hoefkade Police Station
Unique artwork as skylight
Police Station Hoefkade is one of the busiest police stations in The Hague. The station was in danger of outgrowing its cramped premises. Queeste Architecten designed a number of clever interventions to enlarge the building and create more unity and tranquility. The skylight in the large meeting room draws light into the building and lends itself perfectly to a special interpretation in the otherwise almost ascetic design. M2uur bv was called in to come up with a plan of action. Using a specially developed technique, the artwork by Iris van Daalen could eventually be realized at this location.
Client:
Architect:
Queeste Architecten, The Hague
Designer:
Iris van Daalen, M2uur bv
Location:
Skylight in meeting room
Material:
SubliClear Glass
Dimensions:
30 m2
Year of realization:
2011
Layering
Iris van Daalen was approached by M2uur bv to make a design. She had just graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven with a research project on the use of foils as a medium for art. For this project, she drew inspiration from the structures, lines and colors of nature at the nanoscale. Composing design elements in layers creates an exciting spatial effect.
Bubbles
‘The design consists of abstract bubbles,’ Iris van Daalen explains, ‘and their arrangement resembles an organizational chart and other hierarchical models. Everyone is interconnected, resulting in a web of influences. The fragile structure symbolizes order and structure, but also control and authoritarian connections. With the work, I tried to transform this purely functional space into a place where you can wonder and yearn. A place where you can dream, relax and come to understanding and insight.’ This is in line with the vision of Queeste architects who, among other things, designed the meeting room according to stoic principles.
Materialization
To bring the layered design to fruition, current production techniques fell short. With Van Dijken Glas, one of M2uur bv’s valued partners, a special production process was developed for this project. This used the already proven technique of sublimating images on glass. With sublimation, ink particles are transferred to glass films, which are pressed between two sheets of glass. For Bureau Hoefkade, two glass panels, three layers of sublimated prints and a special backlit film were used. This achieved the intended effect after an intensive process of testing and trial runs involving both client and architect and artist.
Elegant
The work consists of two times twelve glass panels with a total size of 30 m2. The panels were mounted in the skylight of the conference room using a modular system. The desired depth effect of the design remained proudly intact. The backlit film provides a soothing diffusion of daylight. Variations in the skylight create a continuously transformative design. It gives this austere space a warm, elegant and soothing atmosphere. An atmosphere that invites reflection and connection.
Hoefkade Police Station