The House of Province is prominently situated at the ‘markt’ in Arnhem. It houses the Executive of the province Gelderland, associated functions and personnel. The project combines new build with the renovation of the provincial government building.
The main structural engineer is Bartels. SIDstudio has been asked by Team V Architecture to create structural design proposals for the roof above the courtyard. After architectural integration and approval of the ETFE/tensegrity design, SIDstudio also carried out the full engineering of the roof. The compression studs in the Tensegrity are placed at an angle and orientated to a central point at square level. This gives a special aesthetic added value due to the varying perspective and transparency, but is also a structural challenge. Parametrical form-finding has established a series of equilibrium geometries that have been analysed in terms of structural behaviour. The large asymmetric snow accumulation was studied in detail to find the overall optimal cable geometry.
The new roof structure seamlessly combines the renovated part that originally was built during the fifties as Gesamtkunstwerk. Team V Architecture, responsible for the complete architecture, wanted to restore the wide roof edge of the courtyard. This gave the inspiration for the current design. The new roof edge is structurally used to close the horizontal force diagram of all cable forces. This way no prestress force is transferred into the old building structure.
The EFTE cushions in combination with the closed Tensegrity structure create a lightweight solution reducing loading impact to the renovated bearing structure and provides a pleasant indoor climate.
Construction of the House of Province finished in 2017.
Gelders huis has been nominated and has won several prices among: winner BNA Best building year 2018, winner Willem Diehlprijs 2019, nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2018, nomination for the NRP Gulden Feniks 2018, and a nomination for the Heuvelinkprijs 2018. The Tensegrity roof design has won the Nationale Staalprijs 2018.