In Emmen, the Netherlands there will be realized the main entrance of the new Experience Park Emmen Zoo, witch also comprimises a theatre called “World of Theatre and World of Meeting”
Together with Henning Larsen Architects from Denmark Van den Berg Group has won the European tender for the entrance of the new combined zoo entrance and theatre in Emmen in April 2012. This selection has been won after a tough 1st and 2nd round, from highly renowned Dutch architects. “An intelligent design with inventive vision, multifunctional, flexible and extremely durable” so we could read in the report of the evaluation committee.
The plans for the new building are part of the Masterplan Emmen Center. The Emmen zoo is now situated in the city center and has grown too big after more than 70 years for this location. The public still appreciates it as “the most beautiful zoo in the Netherlands”, but other zoos have also developed considerably in recent decades. Emmen zoo has high ambitions and wants to be the example in the field of animal welfare and environmental care once again. It aims to inspire a large audience in a unique way into the future. Combining ambition and current locational limitations, plans have been developed to move the zoo to the West side of the center. This way, visitors will soon be able to walk from the new center square to the entrance area of the park and the theatre.
Program The theatre will have two main halls: a theatre auditorium with 800 seats and a flat floor with 300 seats or 1000 standing places. In addition, there are several conference facilities, catering facilities such as a multi-themed restaurant, a theatre bar and an à la carte restaurant on the first floor. This building also contains the offices for the staff of the zoo.
The municipality has formulated a strong ambition for the theatre and the entrance of the new zoo. The building has to be a striking landmark on the skyline of Emmen, an informal and lively meeting point marking the transition between the city and the zoo. We have chosen in our design for a building as if it is placed in a large frame. This frame functions as a theatrical window to the magical world of the zoo and simultaneously creates a protected urban space as a center for the desired meeting function it serves. The frame has been designed as a prominent form: a strong symbol and landmark for the zoo and the center of Emmen.
Particular part of the building is the arched roof. In several curves the roof bends over the building, culminating with the stage tower. The roof and the end façades of the building will be completely covered with vegetation and grasses, illustrating an elevated green landscape. The remaining facades of the building are completely transparent. This makes the building the greenest, but at the same time the most transparent theatre!
Integrated design process The municipality of Emmen has an ambitious plan that places high demands on the speed of work in the design phase. The fact that the design team was able to work in a joint 3D Building Information Model (BIM), has made it possible to achieve this schedule. All involved advisors have cooperated real time in a central location of VandenBerg Group so coordination and communication could be optimized in every aspect.
