Stroopwafel

Gouda's new town hall was part of the development of the Spoorzone, where the city centre is expanding into the area north of the railway line. The Town Hall refers with a nod to traditional Gouda while fitting in with the twenty-first-century city.

On the outside, traditional themes such as brick, red brick and white window frames are used, while the shape of the building matches the large rectangular volumes in the immediate vicinity. The bricks in the facades have deliberately not been bricked in a traditional manner, but laid in prefabricated diagonal strips across the entire building. The diagonal motif thus refers to both the old and the new city and is also a reference to a typical Gouda symbol, which has already led to the nickname 'De Stroopwafel' (the syrup waffle). The building is classical in structure and, with its diagonal patterns and purely rectangular volume, also recalls the Doge's Palace in Venice.

Amphitheatre as council chamber

In our view, the interior of the House of the City had to become 'a room of the citizen', where citizens and politics are brought back together. The building has a spectacular reception hall. In it lies the dual council chamber, whose design was inspired by the Greek origins of democracy. In ancient Athens, citizens debated in the open air in a theatre-like setting. The council chamber is therefore shaped like an amphitheatre. Because this bowl stands loose in the large glass hall, it looks as if Gouda's public assembly, just like in ancient Athens, takes place in the open air.

Visible to all

The council meetings is visible from different sides - including from the train as a kind of public theatre piece. Especially in the evening, when the bowl is illuminated with colours that can be adjusted according to the nature of the debate, the lighting is spectacular. At stable times, the council chamber has the political colour of the coalition. When there are heated debates, the political colours will alternate and intermingle at high speed.