Then in Zoetermeer: ​​the rise of the transformer houses

The transformer house, you may have never heard of it… Yet you have to deal with it every day! Thanks to transformer houses, we have electricity in our homes, offices and shops. What is the actual history of these remarkable buildings?

Characteristic houses

Transformer houses – or transformer houses – can of course be found in many cities and municipalities. They all have some of the same features, namely a steel door with a lightning bolt and the word ‘life-threatening’ on it. Yet there are also a lot of differences between the houses. Some are big, some are small. Some of them are decades old and even have monumental status!

Electricity in the municipality

A small dive into history. The founder of the Dutch electricity industry is Willem Benjamin Smit. He came from the town of Slikkerveer, near Ridderkerk. In the 19th century, South Holland was the most industrialized province in the Netherlands. In 1886, Willem Benjamin Smit started supplying electricity to several companies, homes and street lamps from his power station in Kinderdijk.

The rise of the transformer houses

Developments followed each other in rapid succession. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, several municipalities had their own power stations. Over the years, more and more of these municipalities decided to join forces and work together. In 1941, the NV Elektriciteitsbedrijf Zuid-Holland was founded by the municipalities in collaboration with the province. An interprovincial interconnection network was thus created. That was nice, because it made it possible to compensate for local power shortages. With these developments, more and more transformer houses appeared in the villages and towns, to make the electricity supply possible.

What’s happening inside?

Are you wondering what exactly a transformer house, also often called an electricity house, is? Then you are not alone! Of course, few people have ever seen the inside of such a house. The electricity house is a physical shell of the transformers. These transformers are the distribution points from high to medium voltage or from medium to low voltage, so that the power is suitable for the user. So yourself! Over the years, especially after the Second World War, the designs for the houses became smaller and smaller, because the transformers could also be made more and more compact.

Different styles

In terms of appearance you can distinguish different transformer housings. For example, there are double or luxury transformer houses that look like small villas. There are also simple transformer columns. Do you see a transformer house in the shape of a round column with a cone or dome roof? Then there is a good chance that you are dealing with an old copy. This style was used in South Holland between 1906 and 1960. You can also find transformer houses with hip, tent and gable roofs in various cities. The designers often tried to blend the houses into the urban landscape as much as possible. Some transformer houses resemble a church, others have a neoclassical style.

New features and destinations

Many municipalities in South Holland are currently trying out new things with transformer houses. A number of houses are decorated with art, so that they have a decorative function. Other houses are expanded with additional facilities such as urinals or flower stalls. Transformer houses are also demolished and moved to a new, better location. The locations of the transformer houses must always be central and easily accessible for maintenance purposes.

Transformer houses in Zoetermeer

Zoetermeer also has special transformer houses. For example, the transformer house with the red tiled roof on Eerste Stationsstraat. This is from 1948 and was built in the style of the Delft school. The cottage is one municipal monument.
In 2014, a Zoetermeer transformer house on the Hoornsemeer was still the subject of the news because it had caught fire. As a result, part of the Oosterheem district was without power. It is not clear how the fire started.

Transformer stations in Zoetermeer

There will be in the near future more and more transformer houses and also transformer stations recover. The transformer stations usually look like simple cubes. An expansion is necessary because more and more electricity is being used, but also being generated. Netbeheer Stedin is therefore busy expanding and innovating. The transformer houses and stations will certainly not disappear from the street scene for the time being!