Haarlem Koepel prison opens to the city

The restoration and repurposing of the former domed prison in Haarlem is nearing completion. "By Christmas this year, Christmas movies can already be shown in the cinema," assures architect André van Stigt, who is responsible for designing the restoration of the 1901 national monument.

The characteristic prison designed by justice architect Willem C. Metzelaar, one of three domed prisons in the Netherlands, was built according to the Panopticon principle. The former prison is a circular building with four stacked rings along the outer wall with a total of 240 cells, on which the keepers had a clear view from the large central area. The Haarlem-based Panopticon Foundation acquired ownership of the dome building. Under the slogan "Open De Koepel," the prison will be given a new public purpose, including a university, a cinema, an innovation center for small and medium-sized businesses and a game museum and exhibition space.

'Listening to the building'

The essence of repurposing monuments, according to Van Stigt, is "listening to the building. "You have to exploit the qualities by finding an appropriate use for it and solving the limitations. Only then can you give it a new use affordably, within time and appropriate for the users."

One of the biggest constraints was the acoustics in the huge space under the domed roof. An 8-centimeter layer of insulation was applied to the inside of the roof, which in turn was covered with an 8-centimeter thick sound insulation and cloth. Van Stigt: "The result is that the reverberation was reduced from 7 seconds to 1.4 seconds and the hall became a working environment." No additional windows were allowed in the roof. In order to still get enough light, large LED panels were installed as a contrame of the existing skylights.

Virtually energy neutral

The cells are fitted with sound-insulating walls. In order to also get more light into these future study and work spaces, a new vertical window with a deep negge was installed under the existing cell window with bars, with the permission of the National Cultural Heritage Agency. The bars are still on the outside, only insulating glass has been installed. The old down pipe shafts are used for air ventilation. This solution makes the entire building virtually energy neutral.

The cells are accessed via the original galleries, spiral staircases and two new stairwells. A free-standing circular steel structure of three layers was placed a few meters away from them. This structure features large glass facades to shield various work and meeting spaces. The floors are connected to the galleries by walkways. "In terms of architecture, it's about a restrained and functional incorporation," Van Stigt says, ensuring that you continue to experience the monumental space under the domed roof everywhere.

New basement

The functions that do not require daylight, such as the six lecture/cinema rooms and plant rooms, will be housed in a new basement. To make that basement, sheet pile walls were first driven along the interior wall and the foundation piles and new floor were installed. This floor has a 16-foot diameter circular opening in the middle. From that opening, the basement space five meters deep was excavated. In the six rooms with a total of six hundred seats, lectures can be held in the morning. During the rest of the day, films can be shown by the Film Dome. Van Stigt: "This approach not only enabled us to build this project much faster and within budget, but also to live up to the premise of 'Open De Koepel' for Haarlem."    

New 'invisible' ceiling in De Koepel Haarlem

Commissioned by the HBB Group - which is handling the renovation of the monumental Haarlem Koepelgevangenis - Rinkel and Smit Bouw made no less than 2,700 square meters of soundproof ceiling. Before that, it hung 360 prefabricated elements under the existing dome roof. But those who look upward hardly see any of that. 

Installing pre-insulated roof elements at a height of 35 meters - the largest being 3.7 meters by 2.35 meters - was also a gigantic challenge for Rinkel and Smit Bouw, explains Jan Willem Smit. Even though the construction company from Wervershoof, North Holland, does not exactly turn its hand to difficult jobs. "We have specialized quite a bit in work that others are unwilling or afraid to do. That's true," Smit says. "Often those are one-time projects. We like to make something really special once every few years that you can look back on with pride years later."

The Haarlem Koepel, former prison and now a national monument, has long waited for a new use. "Under the zinc roof it was a gigantic sound box," Smit explains. "So that was completely thermally insulated with spray PUR. We took care of the acoustic insulation." To do that, the existing roof was completely recreated. "We did that by making roof boxes between the existing rafters with printed fabric on them."

Photographs of the existing ceiling were taken beforehand and printed on the cloth. The cloths were stretched on insulated prefabricated roof boxes. As a result, the view for those looking up in The Dome has remained the same. Smit: "The preparation was quite a challenge. Everything had to be accurately drawn out. In the end, we hung 270 elements." 

The Dome again permanently beautiful in paint

The transformation of former prison De Koepel in Haarlem is now clearly visible. As a professional provider of all-round property maintenance services, HAM Vastgoedonderhoud from Velsen-Noord is responsible for painting both the interior and exterior of the building, commissioned by the HBB Group. 

The painting work on the 120-year-old Dome, which is getting a new function, is a challenging job. For example, using aerial platforms and 4 paint sprayers, the steel structure on the inside of the monumental dome roof was given a new coat of paint, Sigma Nova Spray, in 4 weeks. In addition, the experienced painters also applied a coat of latex with a paint sprayer to the walls and ceilings of the 240 cells. On the cell doors and window frames, the original colors were brought back, and the railings on the 3 perimeters were also painted. In the movie theaters in the new basement area, the walls were painted and the woodwork of paneling and stairs were varnished. Finally, the window frames on the outside of the national monument were painted.

HAM Property Maintenance - founded in 1894 - is an experienced partner in painting and construction work. You can also turn to HAM Vastgoedonderhoud for renovations, wood rot and concrete repairs, facade maintenance and a maintenance plan.

Construction Info

Client
C.V. de Koepel i.o.v. foundation Panopticon

Architect & Construction Management
Architectenbureau J. van Stigt BV, Amsterdam

Implementation
HBB Group, Heemstede

Constructor
van Rossum Consulting Engineers

Installations
Unica Building Projects

Construction period
summer 2020 - December 2021