13.07.2018 | The great move RK building and platform

A raffle of shifts and additions to the RC building.

In the coming years we want to implement a series of changes to our building – the RC building in Strijp R – and the adjacent old Philips platform. It concerns three changes:

  1. Transformer house: a small house is being made in the old transformer rooms on the corner of Beeldbuisring and Diodehof for the benefit of artist in residence and others. An environmental permit has already been granted for this and construction is in full swing.
  2. The platform: the old platform becomes a gallery.
  3. PHE hotel: the top floor of the high-rise will be a studio hotel with 13 rooms.

Transformer House

In our old Philips factory building, we left the old transformer rooms undisturbed during the renovation six years ago. The small lofts where various transformers were housed had steel roller doors, built of brick and a lot of steel. Not really the most efficient square meters to exploit if you can use more than ten thousand square meters elsewhere in the building with almost no effort.

We have now started mining the most labour-intensive meters in the building to create the smallest home in Eindhoven. I don’t know if it really is the smallest house, but it does feel that way because who lives in an old transformer room?

It will be a sort of stacked caravan and because it is so small every detail has to be thought out and considered, but because it is so small it is possible. In a sense, the cottage is the counterpart of the widespread desire for more and bigger. Instead, it is compact, well-considered and complete. With a total floor area of ​​45m2 spread over 3 floors, the transformer house will have an artist-in-residence function as an addition to our building.

In this already tiny house, three flights of stairs are required to reach all floors and the roof terrace, which are efficiently placed in the floor plan. The former steel roller doors are replaced by new steel flower windows. These windows protrude about 20cm from the outside wall, giving us just enough space for a bench or a shelf near the kitchen for pots and pans. The kitchen has room for 4 to 6 people to eat, cook and watch TV. There are also 2 bedrooms with associated bathroom, and a study area.

The platform

Shortly after we bought our property more than six years ago, we were asked if we wanted to take over the old platform. Neither Amvest nor the municipality wanted to keep the platform because of exploitation and maintenance costs and the idea was that it would be easier for us to adapt a sleeve here. In addition, the wish was expressed that the new destination for the platform should serve the public good. A revenue model therefore had to be devised to cover the costs of renovation and operation and to serve the public interest. A day and night museum with a small meeting room next to it offers the solution. Due to the elongated shape of the building, it is actually a very large display case, centrally located in the diagonal park of Strijp R. You can walk around the building during the day and in the evening and view the art. The gallery is part of our total concept to make it even more worthwhile for visitors to visit us. The gallery itself is not for profit. Organizing exhibitions and offering artists a platform has cost a lot of money in recent years. The building itself, the presence of art and the location in the park will positively influence the rental possibilities of the space.

A cellar will be built under the platform, which will make it possible to create a “white box” gallery. The glass fronts embrace the old platform as if it were a jewel and the building as a whole is like a jewel box for the art that we will be presenting there.

The new construction of the glass facade remains separate from the existing building, but fits in seamlessly with the original rhythm and construction method. The facade on the side of the restaurant (the front, the south side) has huge sliding glass doors so that a kind of open-air stage can be created so that the platform can also be used for events.

Our gallery is currently located on the floors of the high-rise building in the RK. Moving the art to the platform will give the art a much more prominent place in the whole (if only because it is visible day and night) and positively influence the appeal of our activities and the whole area. The building itself will increase the appeal of Strijp due to its iconic quality and cultural content.

PHE hotel

The development of our company and the building is strongly based on the idea that the most complete context is created around the unique concept, from idea to product under one roof. Our guests come from all over the world, but also from Eindhoven. The building as a place or location for activities and events is already firmly anchored in the city and neighbourhood. A missing link in the whole is that our guests can also stay overnight with us. The small hotel with the differently furnished rooms not only offers the possibility to stay overnight, but is also an extension of the showroom where it is not only about the stuff but also about the experience. The entrance of the hotel will therefore have a large glass front with a glass-enclosed elevator behind it, so that you can look towards the ground floor and the mezzanine floor of the shop and showroom.

The hotel will have 13 rooms, each decorated in a different way. Each of the rooms will have its own character within an overall picture. The lobby and breakfast area will be located in the wonder room on the lower floor. This emphasizes the amalgamation of the total concept even more clearly. This will be a lobby, bar and breakfast room, like the entrance of an old-fashioned hotel, but in an industrial building. Adjacent to this space, we want to create a terrace on the roof, but we also want to create a terrace on the highest roof. This roof terrace is accessible by elevator. The roof terraces on different levels, with plants and a small bar above the city, create a metropolitan feeling.

Do you have questions? You are always welcome to visit us or send an email to: info@eekendekkers.com

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