Powerhouse Company

Jakoba Mulderhuis
Perfectly Engineered

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.’
– 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.’
– Stefan Prins, Partner Architect