Culture House Eemhuis

The Eemhuis is a cultural centre that combines the city library, regional archives, school of arts and exhibition spaces. The vertical stacking of these programs enhances the continuity of the public domain into the building. At the ground floor, the public square becomes the foyer of the exhibition centre and gradually steps up to form a terraced library. On the top of the stairs the library spills into a vast open space overlooking the city. Above it hovers the archive volume that forms the ceiling of this space. The three departments of the arts school (theatre & dance, visual arts and music) are each expressed separately as cantilevered beams that crown the complex.