Bunker Tower and park to revitalize the brutalist work of Maaskant

In Eindhoven, the Bunker Tower, together with the new park, revitalize one of Hugh Maaskant's brutalist works that has marked the history of post-war Dutch architecture with a bold combination. Stone, wood, and glass rise in twisting and asymmetric forms to honor the past and celebrate the future

A renewed urban hub, invigorating and in direct dialogue with the past and future

The Bunker Tower is one of the award-winning architecture projects by Powerhouse Company that delivers to the city, along with RED Company, Being Development, and DELVA Landscape Architecture & Urbanism responsible for the design of the new park, a renewed hub, invigorating and in direct dialogue with the past and future. "De Bunker", the brutalist building designed by Maaskant has been a place of university life for decades; much loved for its powerful architecture and the functions it hosted, it has recently been at risk of being demolished due to high maintenance costs

An architecture that expands the brutalist aesthetic language

The project, which won the competition organized in 2016 by the University of Eindhoven, revitalizes the Bunker and the entire area through the construction of the Bunker Tower, which, in its 32 floors, houses luxury residences in an architecture that takes up and expands the aesthetic language of the “brutalist monument” alongside it, and the creation of the Bunker Park that enhances the three green axes that characterize the city. The park replaces the large parking area, which is compensated for by parking lots in the tower's underground levels, and provides oxygen and nature to residents and visitors

The tower twists on itself, tapering towards the top

The bold lines of the existing building, defined by huge volumes made of inclined surfaces and solid materials characteristic of the architectural language that identifies it, are embraced by the new architecture of the Bunker Tower which takes them on and, instead of contrasting, reinterprets them in a contemporary language. The tower, solid yet somehow light, thanks to the glass bands that dematerialize it, twists on itself, tapering towards the top and its facades still tell the story of monumental materials and essential forms

Materials and program of the intervention

The concrete of the brutalist building underwent an arduous restoration lasting 8 months; for the tower facade, natural stone was used that echoes the grays of the Bunker, adding a sense of monumentality. This, together with glass and wood, outlines the horizontal striped rhythm of the new residential building. Inside, 210 luxurious apartments, with generous spaces and spectacular views allowed by large windows, are part of the overall project that sees the 3000 square meters of the restored Bunker hosting the offices of Goodhabitz, an online training agency, and a partially open to the public center with the Grand Café, which continues the original social function

Gallery

Photo credits
Top image: 1 Anna Odulinska + 2 Claudia Angenent
Content Images: 1, 3 Anna Odulinska; 2 Sebastian van Damme
Gallery images: 1-4 Anna Odulinska; 5-9, 11-14 Sebastian van Damme; 10 Claudia Angenent

Companies credits
Developers: RED Company, Being Development
Investors: Borghese Real Estate, Pensioenfonds Rail & OV
Legal advisor: DLA Piper
Constructer: Van Wijnen
Architect: Powerhouse Company
Landscape architect: DELVA Landscape Architecture & Urbanism
Project management: DVP
Installation advisor: Deerns
Constructer engineer: IMd Raadgevend Ingenieurs
Building physics: Deerns
Advisor urban planning: RHO Adviseurs

PEOPLE

Powerhouse Company

Antoine Platekade 1000, 3072 ME Rotterdam, The Netherlands Bavariaring 26, 80336 Munich, Germany Waldemar Thranes gate 98, 0175 Oslo, Norway Avocado Towers, Muthithi Road, Westlands, 45669 Nairobi, Kenya