Sustainable city hall in Hengelo

The two buildings are connected to form a single unit. The old city hall, a listed building, once again has an open character, pleasant workspaces and a central hall that has been restored to its unique former glory. The new building is located right next to it, with a dynamic character, exceptional spaciousness, plenty of daylight and sustainable innovations, constructed using traditional local techniques.

A special feature of the monumental town hall is that it is one of the few buildings in Hengelo to survive from the reconstruction period after World War II, preserving its non-modernist, traditional and European architecture. The chambers for the different political parties represented on the council, the double-height council café and the restaurant are located on the ground floor, providing direct visual contact with passers-by. On the first floor, meeting rooms and workspaces surround the large hall and offer a view of the town through large windows. The second floor houses the wedding room, the council chamber and the citizens’ room. On the third (top) floor, the glass wall has been repositioned to create spacious offices with plenty of daylight.

‘The sustainability concept is demonstrated in this building in numerous ways. We have solar panels, of course, we used the old desks and cabinets to make new ones and we buy organic from local entrepreneurs for our company restaurant. Finally, it’s also important to have a partner like BNG Bank, which arranged very good financing for us,’ says alderman Claudio Bruggink.

Healthy building

From the start of the project, sustainability played an important role in all choices regarding the design and materials. Reusing the existing city hall has made a major contribution to achieving the lofty ambitions in this area. By means of reused materials, new materials with a low environmental impact and the addition of solar panels, sustainable installations and a smart link to the new municipal offices, a greatly reduced energy consumption has been achieved. Ceiling heating and cooling ensures a pleasant indoor climate in the municipal offices. In addition, concrete core activation (thermal activation) ensures that the floor is able to maintain heat and cold buffers, thus creating an energy-efficient indoor climate. All of these measures combined will save the municipality over half a million euros on its annual energy bill.

Impulse for Hengelo

The commissioning of the city hall also means a social and economic intensification of this beautiful location in the town centre. The area is transforming from an unattractive neighbourhood with empty buildings and unused land to a high-quality, lively and above all beautiful place with new paving, greenery and new entrepreneurs. The city hall is easily accessible by bicycle and public transport, and the car park has electric loan cars for employees. Every day, some 700 employees travel to these offices, which were previously located far outside the town centre. In addition, the public service counters are able to handle some 100,000 visitors a year (if there are no coronavirus restrictions in place).