The Kunstwerf in the city of Groningen has been voted best building of the year in the category ‘stimulating environment’, the jury of the BNA architecture prize announced on Thursday evening.
Groningen theater companies and initiatives are housed in the complex, which opened in September, between the De Machinefabriek theater and the apartments on Ciboga.
The building was designed by architects Ard de Vries & Donna van Milligen Bielke on behalf of the municipality of Groningen.
The jury describes De Kunstwerf as ‘a place that invites you to stay and meet, with added value for users, passers-by and local residents’.
The award recipients are impressed by the way in which the complex is fitted around a historic villa.
‘The architectural composition is very strong, and the details are taken care of, despite the limited budget. It is already clear that this public space works, and the Kunstwerf is recognized as a new hotspot’, according to the jury.
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