Lucy Cube | Mulders van den Berk Architects

Monumentality is one of the aspects in the work of both visual artist Rob Sweere and the architects Joost Mulders and Chris van den Berk. As a result, you will certainly feel part of a monumental work of art when spending the night in the Lucy CUBE. The designers transformed a rectangular grain hopper, which had functioned as an essential link in the transfer of goods before slowly wasting away by oxidation, into a new and dazzling landmark for the former harbour area. Great views and certain solitude…

Construction process 

Lucy Cube, (the white cubicle) started as a timber frame structure in which all the technical infrastructure is hidden in the walls. Outside the frame has been plated with aluminum powder coated sheets, pre-folded for over the edges. All the functions like pantry, toilet, and shower are situated in each corner on a square meter. The fourth corner is the entrance for the staircase. From top to bottom there is a like through glass, where as in the living space the glass is 4 centimeters thick so you can walk over it.
This cubicle has been build separate from the grain hopper in Arnhem and was transported by ship and placed on the grain hopper on 31st of January. This means that the grain hopper was adjusted for the cubicle, with a staircase and reinforcements of steel. The grain hopper is constructed from steel and is corroded over time, the hopper has been in use until 1996.

Interior design
Entering the Cube it’s all white with a large window on each side so you never have the feel it’s a small space with just a few square meters. It opens up like a bright high castle, with a beautiful contemporary chandelier in the middle of the space just above the central placed bed from Royal Auping. The bed is covered with a bedspread which has been especially designed by young artist Annemiek Pruyt in cooperation with the Dutch Textile Museum in Tilburg. Every Lucy unit is equipped with a complete setup of toilet, pantry and shower so there’s no need to go out if you don’t want to.