Perforated paper leads to remarkable facade

The building's claim to architectural fame is its facade, divised by Amsterdam-based architect Angie Abbink. As contemporary as it may look, it's also related to the history of the area, where the city's textile industry was located in medieval times.

Chris Kabel designed the idea for the panel filling for this project. The white facade wraps the house like a huge lace doily, even forming sliding shutters over the windows and serving as a balustrade for the roof terrace. It consists of powder-coated aluminum plates covered with small punched-out hexagons. By hand-bending the hexagons in one direction or the other, a graphic pattern is generated on the facade. Little marks on the backs of the hexagons told the workers which way to bend them.

According to Kabel, the idea came from punching a sheet of paper with a needle from the back and the front, which resulted in a similar texture. It proved to be a simple trick with a huge effect, covering the building with a beautiful metal curtain that always changes its appearance, depending on the sunlight. Metadecor has engineered, produced and assembled this facade.

Photos: IC4U Föllmi, Luuk Kramer.