Governing authorities in particular are faced with the need to legally anchor the cultural heritage value of buildings. Is tightening of the protection regime required and, if so, in what way? We issue advice on the designation of municipal monuments and provide the corresponding substantiating descriptions. Moreover, under the new Environment and Planning Act, which will enter into force in 2021, municipalities are obliged not only to assess the cultural heritage value, but also to indicate the positioning of buildings in the Environmental Plan. We identify the values to be included in spatial plans as well as the relevant plan rules. For the sale of social real estate, we have developed the product ‘information leaflet’ which, in addition to the economic value, also records the cultural heritage value and the meaning for the neighbourhood. By means of a perpetual clause or qualitative provision at the time of sale, the information leaflet acquires legal tenability.

CASE 1

VAN NELLE FACTORY AND SURROUDINGS, ROTTERDAM

Transformation guidelines

commissioned by: the municipality of Rotterdam (2022)

De Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Not only the complex itself, but also the surroundings of the monument are closely monitored. Within a specially established ‘buffer zone’, all developments must remain subordinate to the importance of the world heritage site. Sight lines to the factory must remain intact. Large-scale new developments in the vicinity of the factory are out of the question. The current zoning plan is purely preservative, which means that developments besides the existing building volumes are impossible. However, there is growing pressure for transformation. There are plans for a train station, and the pending redevelopment of Spaanse Polder requires a different urban layout and space for new constructions. Such developments can bring a desirable dynamic to the area and need not harm the world heritage site. SteenhuisMeurs was asked to investigate the possibilities for new developments in the buffer zone, based on the characteristics and qualities of the world heritage site. The results will form a guideline for new urban development plans.

Van Nelle Factory and surroundings, Rotterdam

CASE 2

THE HAGUE, SEYSS-INQUART BUNKER

Document on Basic Principles

commissioned by: Central Government Real Estate Agency (2018)

On the border between The Hague and Wassenaar, the bunker of the former State Commissioner Arthur Seyss-Inquart, the highest commander in the Netherlands during the German occupation, is to be found, disguised as a farm. It is a historically layered and emotionally charged place. The bunker is situated on the historic Clingendael country estate, which was Seyss-Inquart’s main residence during the occupation. He had the bunker built in 1942-1943, as a safe haven and a command centre. After the Second World War, the ensemble retained its military function. From 1948 to 2010 the barracks functioned as the headquarters of the Royal Netherlands Army, making it into the nerve centre of the Cold War in the Netherlands. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the barracks lost its function. An unusual adaptive reuse assignment presents itself for the bunker - a national monument. The hermetically sealed building, with its metres’ thick concrete walls, has been placed on the market by the Central Government Real Estate Agency. The challenge is not only to facilitate exploitable redevelopment, but also to do justice to the historically layered location and the intangible significance as ‘Täter-Ort’ and memorial site of modern military history. The sale of the bunker is therefore accompanied by a Document on Basic Principles. SteenhuisMeurs has translated the findings of the cultural heritage assessment study into core values that have been legally anchored in the Document on Basic Principles.

Seyss-Inquart Bunker, The Hague