Kraaijvanger

On October 4, 2022, the Municipal Executive adopted the Final Design for the House for the City. The college also asks the City Council to provide an additional investment credit of €10 million for the further elaboration into a Technical Design and the preparation and realization of the House for the City.

Final Design

The Final Design of the House for the City was prepared in interaction with working groups of employees, experts, external partners, the Council/Registry and the Works Council. It is a further elaboration of the Preliminary Design which zooms in on the layout and use of spaces, material choices and technical detailing (demountable, circular and maintenance-friendly).

The design team led by Kraaijvanger Architects is elaborating the Definitive Design into a Technical Design. Simultaneously with the Definitive Design, the tendering procedure will start. This should lead to the contracting of a contractor and start of construction in 2023 so that the House for the City can be in use by the end of 2025.

Need for additional credit

Like many other construction projects in the Netherlands, Amersfoort is experiencing price increases caused by more expensive materials and raw materials. The war in Ukraine and the European sanctions against Russia are also impacting energy prices and are now causing massive inflation. The development of the House for the City will not escape price increases either, as will the energy and maintenance costs of the current city hall.As a result, the college sees no other option than to present the City Council with a proposal to set aside more money for the House for the City with which to absorb the rising prices. In addition, the college wants to move forward with the development of the new town hall because the heating and maintenance of the current town hall is also affected by these price increases. For this reason, it is important to move to a new energy-neutral city hall as soon as possible.

A study on how to absorb the price increase within the budget of the new city hall has shown that adjusting the current design will lead to even more costs. Based on current market estimates, this amounts to €10 million needed to absorb the price increases.

Together with the city

On September 22, 2022, an inspiration session was held, where residents, groups, institutions and businesses discussed with each other and the architect wishes and possibilities of the multifunctional spaces in the House for the City. This resulted in beautiful inspiring ideas and contacts. Since September 28, we have been calling on users of City Hall to participate in an Art Tribune (sounding board group) to help think about the art commission for the House for the City. Finally, the detailed design of the public area and play facilities at the House for the City will also involve the city again.

Source: Amersfoort