Nieuwbouw Intratuin, Barneveld (Nederland) 2002

The Municipality of Barneveld wanted to see a beautiful, iconic building along the A30, at the corner in De Burgt. It was also allowed to be high, more than twelve meters, because in this way it also functions as a noise barrier.

Because the architecture on the outer edge of the De Burgt residential area evokes the atmosphere of houses from the thirties, especially in the semi-detached and detached houses, the idea arose to adapt the design of the Intratuin location to this. let it close. The architect presented an image of a station building from that period.

Intratuin Barneveld is the first garden center in Europe with curved steel trusses. This gives the building a look in old Victorian style and it breathes the atmosphere of a Botanical garden. Thanks to plenty of daylight, the public experiences the building as a garden. The main building is a combination of a steel construction and greenhouse construction. The ascending symmetrical structure shows strength and atmosphere and offers space for a first floor of 2200 m² where luxurious items are sold. Intratuin Barneveld took on the challenge of being the first garden center in Europe to add a floor.

The lighting is switched high-frequency to sunlight, which means that the interior lighting dims automatically as there is more sunlight. Computers take care of the automatic opening of windows and the six enormous glass panels, while a computer-controlled irrigation system reuses collected rainwater to water the plants.