Nestled in the heart of the Veluwe National Park the Posbank Pavilion offers splendid views over the IJssel and Rijn valley. Dramatizing the workings of a glacier and the astonishing wandering of boulders over a thousand kilometres, the slanted floor of the tea pavilion continues the walking route of the park, pulling it up and wrapping it around an oak tree.
The Netherlands has no mountains, so the rolling hills in the east are quite an attraction. During the last ice age, glaciers pushed sand up to form a range of hills more than 100 metres above sea level (rather high by Dutch standards).
The Posbank Tea Pavilion lies at the end of a range of hills, completely integrated in its natural surroundings. The outdoors can be acutely experienced from indoors and natural materials within the interior further blur the boundary between pavilion and park.
The slanted floor of the pavilion continues a walking route of the Veluwezoom National Park, visitors ascend in a continuous spiral which wraps around an oak tree. This journey ends one floor above the entrance. From here you return outside, stepping onto a roof terrace which spirals up another level as a grass roof.
To ensure minimal impact and the smallest footprint, three-quarters of the spiral cantilevers off a concrete base. This houses a kitchen and other auxiliary spaces. At its most pivotal point, the pavilion is stabilized by two big boulders on top of each other, as if the melted ice had put them in place.
Commissioned by one of the oldest and largest nature preservation societies in the world, the Vereniging Natuurmonumenten of 1902, the Posbank Pavilion plays an important role in raising awareness of both the power and vulnerability of nature.
A great respect for the environment drove the design of the Posbank Pavilion. Environmentally friendly materials include plaster made from natural stone granules, sheep’s wool for insulation, sustainably produced timber, unprocessed solid oak beams, oak tree trunks as columns, easily recyclable steel trusses, a green roof and acacia parquet for the restaurant floor.
The Posbank pavilion is a model for passive design and sustainability. Rainwater is collected and stored, photovoltaic panels provide energy, a green roof and natural ventilation provide cooling and the ground-source heat pump is used regulate the internal temperature. Highly innovative, especially when you consider it was built back in 2002.
This project was designed while at de architectengroep.
