Green rings, radial streets & public spaces

Amersfoort’s medieval, ring-shaped layout grows outward from its central square and Sint Joriskerk along radial streets, creating a human-scaled city with intimate public spaces like hofjes and small squares. Despite major population growth and increasing diversity, the city remains predominantly residential and lacks enough cultural venues and workspaces for its many entrepreneurs. With its strategic location on a key radial axis near green areas, the old Flint theatre is well positioned to become an important cultural and social hub within the city’s network.

Small scale as an urban approach:

Greenery, squares & streets

A creative & social hub

The large scale of a building like Flint requires addressing its role at the urban level. The challenge is to develop an engaging and dynamic programme that transforms the existing building into an open urban hub—fully integrated into the city fabric and respectful of its scale.

Although composed of distinct programmes—such as the foyer, canteen, neighbourhood center, coworking, and creative spaces—the proposal envisions a flexible, adaptable, and interconnected programme where each element complements the otwhers.

Scale matters

The building’s challenges appear at three scales: city, neighborhood, and building. At the city scale, it serves only a limited population, causing social fragmentation. At the neighborhood scale, it lacks permeability and ignores key civic axes, disconnecting from its environment. At the building scale, closed façades and poor access create a dark, uninviting presence, preventing engagement and street life, making it feel detached and unapproachable.

The challenge: Opening the Show

The proposal addresses challenges through connectivity, materiality, and sustainability at city, neighborhood, and building scales. Its motto, “Open Show,” reflects an inclusive vision: “Open” for accessibility and welcoming spaces; “Show” to celebrate life within Flint, turning daily activities of people, nature, and animals into a dynamic performance that enriches the community and redefines the uilding’s social and environmental role.

A modular structure reflect the grain of the neighbourhood

The proposal seeks to emphasize this rhythm and scale by preserving all existing structures and removing only specific facades in order to clarify circulations and access points while improving orientation. These new nude structures will become transitional spaces and terraces.

A new material: a transparent grid that takes different shapes

Long & cross sections

From an enclosed building to an open integrated hub

The opaque facade of the 1990s building and the former parking structure, will be removed to expose the structural frame. A new skin, made of micro-perforated mesh, will be added over this structure to achieve a nearly zero-energy building.