Tynaarlo is the name of the local authority in Drenthe which has been created from the fusion of Eelde, Vries, Paterswolde, Zuidlaren and several small villages. The new town hall is not situated in one of the cores of Tynaarlo, but outside, in beautiful surroundings that will look even better after having been tidied up. The white steel and glass building nestles in this luxuriant natural setting like a Modernist jewel. It has an allure that you usually only find in the head offices of large corporations and in luxurious villas such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, but rarely in civic buildings, especially in the Netherlands. The underground car park prevents the idyll of a radiant building in the countryside from being disturbed by parked cars.
The largely transparent building is located above this car park. The council chamber is on the ground floor, above it are the offices, and the top floor houses the representative area for council members as well as the canteen, so that the view is democratically shared.
Through its location, architectural expression, sharp details and the addition of monumental art, the building is a celebration of public administration of a kind that has rarely been seen in the Netherlands since the days of H.A. Maaskant.
