Assignment
In the center of the village Geldrop there is an old castle with a castle garden. Because the amount of greenery in the garden has increased in the past years, it is not possible to store anymore to store the plants and trees in the wintertime. That is why the owner of the castle decided to build a wintergarden, where the trees and plants can survive the wintertime.
Design this wintergarden which can hold plants and trees up to 13 meter. Important with the design are the local situation, the construction and the climatological circumstances.
The design
The Genius Loci is very important in this assignment. The garden of the castle is divided in two parts and they both need a clear infrastructure. At the moment many trails have dead ends en it is not possible for visitors to make a loop. Also there is an old brick wall with a high historic value, an object that founded the design.
In the design there are two different worlds, the world of the plants and the trees and the world of the supporting functions. Both worlds are separated by a big massive stone wall, inspired on the old wall located elsewhere on the site. In this wall there are several holes, creating points of contact between the two worlds. The trail in the garden smoothly continues inside the building, completing a loop for the visitors. Inside the building the trail twists around the wall, visiting both worlds in different places. The visitors get impressive views in a different world every time they cross the wall, making it an interesting route to follow.
To express the difference in environment in the different worlds, materialization is very important. In the bright world of the plants and trees most used materials are glass and steel, keeping the construction slim and creating a lot of light. In the functional world the most common used material will be red wood, giving warmth and contrast.
