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Port house in Antwerp
The building is located in the northern part of Belgium, a port city called Antwerp. Geographically, It is also part of the Hanseatic League.
Site context, Bottom of the image is facing North. Image excerpt from Zaha Hadid Architect.com
Hanseatic League, image excerpt from wikipedia
The building was originally built in 1912, and the second phase was carried out in 1922 under the direction of the architect E.Van Averbeke. The building was served as fire station. It was partially refurbished in 1959 and reserved for the technical service of Antewerp.
In the beginning of the design, the president of the Port of Antwerp said, “there is only one rule laid down in the competition, namely that the original building had to be preserved. “Therefore the whole design is oriented to work on new construction around the existing building.
As the existing building was completely untouched, the project integrates the existing unfinished tower into the vertical circulation. It forms the physical link between the existing building and the new upper-level construction. This connection was then operated as a glass-cage elevator, which dissolved in the belly of the sailing-ship volume at upper level.
Most of projects adjacent or connect to the historical building tend to replicate whatever has already on the site. Adding a modern glassy ship volume seems a provocative statement. Yet, this project offers us a valuable lesson that by completely distinguish the “New” out of “Old”, we would able to learn more from the history, and appreciate the beauty from different period of time.
Image excerpt from Artnet
Museum of the Bible in Washington DC
The building (originally called Terminal Building) is situated in a historical property, which is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C. The building itself is significant under criterion A for its association with the commercial and industrial growth of Washington, DC in the first half of 20th century.
Undated photo shows how train cart entered the building to deliver ice.Image excerpt from the web
The Terminal building was originally design by the architect Appleton P Clark Jr. and engineer Van Rensselaer H Greene. It originally built in 1923 for Terminal Refrigerating and Warehouse Company as a Neo-Classical Revival style industrial building. Later, in 1958, it was expanded to the east and rehabilitated to accommodate the Washington Design Center.
Majority of the façade has been preserved except the east portion of the façade. Part of the elevation was slightly projected form the brick wall surface. On the north elevation, two bays of original punch windows were remained. The rest fenestration along the north elevation has been filled with the intention to restore its original appearance.
Exterior Rendering of Terminal Building, notice there are only two bays of punch windows at the north elevation. Image courtesy refrigerating world, December 1922
Undated photograph of the west elevation of the Terminal Building. Image courtesy from Historical Society of Washington DC
The first story of the existing building contained truck loading bays and platforms (that was closed in 1980) that now has opened for museum shops. The second floor loading platform, extending entire east-west width has also transformed to one of the best lobbies in Washington DC- with its 140 feet long and 40 feet high digital ceiling.
Longitudinal Section, Image courtesy the American Architect and Architectural Review 1924
Unlike the project in Antwerp, nothing is touchable to the existing building. Museum of the Bible tried to attach to the existing building with many advance technologies. Rather than floating a new structure on the upper level, the curved metal rooftop addition seems to organically grow out of this 1920’s old building.
Here is the summary we can learn from these two cases:
We will talk about examples of how we preserve our buildings in future posts. Stay tuned.
Want to go deeper?
Understand more about Port House at Zaha Hadid Architects
Read Wikipedia about what is Neotraditional Architecture
Interested in learning more about old buildings? Check out Building Technology Heritage Library (BTHL)
Hear what designers and historian say about the bible museum. Check out SmithGroup
Want to explore the Bible Museum before purchasing a ticket? Check out Museum’s Interactive Map
Interested in find out where are those historic properties in DC? Check out History Quest DC