teahouse | Joost Glissenaar Architects

The city of Vlissingen is continuous in transformation. The 2nd World War and economic reasons changed the appearance of the city in the last hundred years. The urban development Bestevaer is the answer, after a period of 125 years, of the removal of the shipyard De Schelde out of the historic centre of the second biggest city of Zeeland. Industrial buildings make place for the rebuilding of the northern part of the old city centre. Around the restored Dock van Perry a lively neighborhood arises with individual houses, apartments, commercial space, café’s and restaurants. One of the restaurant spaces in the building block will have an annex besides the dock. On top of the original foundations of the old pump building of the Dock van Perry a bell jar is placed which accommodates a teahouse and an exposition about the Dock. Glass plates in the floor make the original foundations and pump visible. Under the roof of the bell jar a model boat is suspended which the shipbuilders used to test the stability and streamline of the ships. The bell jar is executed on a ‘lowtech’ manner; insulated sun reflective glass is mounted with stainless steel plates on wooden trusses which, obviously, refer to the shipbuilding. In the end façades 2 sets of double doors are placed to make it possible that the teahouse can be used as covered terrace in case of changeable and rainy weather. When the sun shines the shutters above the doors can be opened so the warm air can be ventilated along the top