In 2017, the International Year of The Style, VanWonen officially opened its new headquarters in Zwolle, in a beautifully restored landmark building designed by prominent The Style member Gerrit Rietveld. Included is a reception area that allows VanWonen’s visitors to experience the extraordinary building and the close connections between VanWonen and Rietveld.
A special story
Zwolle, 1957. The sleepy provincial town is home of builder Schrale’s Beton. Schrale builds its own modern, light and airy offices. Director Binnert Schröder is Truus Schröder-Schräder’s son, of Rietveld-Schröder House fame. His mother and Gerrit Rietveld enjoy a longstanding relationship. No wonder that Rietveld is the chosen architect of Schrale’s Beton’s offices. It is one of the very few commercial buildings the famous architect designed.
A building’s biography
DST assisted VanWonen in unlocking the stories of the building and its occupants. With a reception area, and in the content of a biographical book on the building’s history that became VanWonen’s gift to its business relations. In this way VanWonen capitalizes commercially on the special historical context of its headquarters, including the close resemblance between VanWonen’s business strategy and Rietveld’s design philosophy.
