Building 51

Recreation complex with six cinema screens, a family entertainment centre, a children’s play village, and catering establishments on a former naval yard in Den Helder. The project combines new construction with the restoration and re-use of a former shipbuilding workplace from the 1930s. The design for the re-use retained the authentic atmosphere as much as possible. Wherever possible, typical features were preserved and left visible. Only the most essential interventions were realized and all additions were designed as unaffectedly as possible. Grateful use was made of the overdimensioning necessary for the old crane track, so that no additional construction was necessary to accommodate the cinema screens on various levels of the existing building. Additional construction requirements were also made superfluous by using lightweight partitions connected to the existing construction in a vibration-eliminating manner, instead of the usual massive insulation materials.