Porters’ Lodges, Hoge Veluwe National Park in The Netherlands

Los tres albergues están situados a la entrada de Parque Nacional “Hoge Veluwe”, en los pueblos de Rijzenburg, Hoenderloo y Otterlo. El parque es famoso por su belleza natural y para el Museo Kröller-Müller situado en el centro.
A cada entrada a los albergues se le dio una expresión material diferente. De madera (cedro rojo occidental) de acero (acero Corten) y de ladrillos, que representan los 3 elementos del parque: la naturaleza, el arte y la arquitectura.

Porters’ Lodges, Hoge Veluwe National Park in The Netherlands

Porters’ Lodges, Hoge Veluwe National Park in The Netherlands

Porters’ Lodges, Hoge Veluwe National Park in The Netherlands

The three lodges are situated by the entrance to the “Hoge Veluwe” National Park, in the villages of Rijzenburg, Hoenderloo and Otterlo. The park is famous for its natural beauty and for the Kröller-Müller Museum situated in the middle of it.

The park is also known for its high quality architecture: for example the museum by Henry van de Velde with an extension by Wim Quist and Hunting Lodge for Kröller-Müller designed by Berlage.

The shape of the archetypical lodge -the little house- has been deformed by site-specific conditions, such as the movement of passing traffic, the positions of car parks and bicycle parks, and is enlarged (stretched) in the direction of the visiting public.

Each entrance lodge was given a different material expression. Wood (Western Red Cedar) steel (Corten steel) and bricks represent the 3 elements of the park: nature, art and architecture. At the Rijzenburg entrance, wood was utilised, recalling nature and hunting – the origins of the park. The Hoenderloo lodge refers to art of the Kröller-Müller Museum with its collection of modern art and its extensive sculpture garden – and is constructed of Corten steel. The architecture of the park is evoked in the Otterlo lodge with its brick and concrete finish.

All materials were used in their natural state and are gradually weathering over time. To further emphasise the object-like and artificial quality of the lodges, the same materials were used all over the buildings, including roofs, shutters and doors, with a detailing that corresponds to the physical capacity of the materials.

The lodges were designed to be completely closed during closure time thus turning into mysterious sculptural objects.