The BNA (Royal Institute of Dutch Architects) has been awarding the Best Building of the Year prize for 20 years. Since the first edition in 2006, the award has highlighted the significance of architecture for society, culture, and the economy. In 2013, diederendirrix won this prize with the transformation of Boiler House Ceres at the Eindhoven University of Technology. We also won the Public Choice Award twice: in 2020 with DomusDela and in 2024 with the Van Gogh Village Museum.

‘Vormen Voorwaarts’ is the overview exhibition celebrating 20 years of Best Building of the Year. Until 26 October, the shift from iconic buildings to architecture’s societal value can be seen at the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam.

“The exhibition reflects on changes in architectural practice, such as the retreating role of government and the shift from the bravado of the ‘Super Dutch’ generation to engagement and a more service-oriented design attitude. Architecture increasingly proves to be a connecting force in major transitions such as climate adaptation, housing development, and social cohesion.”

Visit the Vormen Voorwaarts website.

Commissioned by Wooninc., we are designing a distinctive social housing tower along the Eindhovensch Kanaal: the Picustoren. The tower will be the final piece in the redevelopment of the NRE site, a place with a rich history. As early as 2004, we developed an urban vision for the transformation of this former industrial stronghold, and in 2019 we completed the Picuskade project.

The design responds to both the complexity and the qualities of the site. The programme is divided into two volumes connected on the ground floor by a passage with shared amenities. On the side of the courtyard, the building remains low-rise, while along the canal a 70-metre-high tower rises. The architecture, in red brick and copper-coloured metal, draws inspiration from the area’s industrial past.

The Picustoren combines affordable living with space, views, greenery, and places for meeting. With features such as a large shared living room, roof garden, laundry facilities, and studio space, the Picustoren will be more than just a residential building. It will be a place where people live together and where the neighbourhood is welcome.

Together with Wooninc., Laride, burobol, Pieters Bouwtechniek, and Huisman & Van Muijen, we are realising a forward-looking housing concept in which social connection and affordability go hand in hand. A place with meaning—carrying the strength of the past into the future.

On Thursday, 22 May, together with all colleagues from diederendirrix and bureauEAU, we visited Maastricht, where we are currently working on several projects.

By bicycle, we explored different neighbourhoods and parts of the city. Rik Martens introduced us to De Groene Loper, Bas Römgens explained the urban development vision of Maastricht, and Rob Meurders spoke at the Maastricht Institute of Arts of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences about how we will approach its extensive renovation and transformation.

There was also plenty of time to strengthen the connection between colleagues while enjoying food and drinks. A successful day!

We are proud that Fibonacci has been nominated for the Amsterdamse Nieuwbouwprijs 2025!

Fibonacci is one of the ten nominated projects, chosen from fifty-four projects, for the Amsterdamse Nieuwbouwprijs 2025. The prize is initiated by AT5, the municipality of Amsterdam, Bouwend Nederland and Amsterdam Woont.

‘Fibonacci is located in a challenging location, next to the railway and along the busy Panamalaan. Architectural firm diederendirrix, commissioned by Stadgenoot, Rockfield Real Estate and VORM, cleverly dealt with the limitations of the location in the design, resulting in a striking building that fits within its urban environment. The facades have a strict appearance that contrasts with the warm use of wood in the interior.’

The homes in Fibonacci are for a target group that is currently having a hard time on the housing market, namely young people up to the age of 33. The building contains 49 social housing apartments and 194 studios and two-room apartments in the mid-priced rental sector. In the development of Fibonacci, much attention has been paid to the formation of a residential community. For example, there is a shared living room, sports and laundry room and a community manager in the building.

Voting for the various projects take place from Friday 19 May to Wednesday 11 June. The prize will be announced on Saturday 14 June 2025 and awarded to the residents, developer, builder and architect.

You can vote for Fibonacci here and watch the video that was made for the public prize.

On November 27, 2024, the municipality of Amsterdam, together with Alliantie Ontwikkeling BV, signed the contract with DURA Vermeer Bouw BV for the construction of the ‘Velo’ building complex. The building right next to Sloterdijk station will have 390 rental homes, commercial spaces and a public bicycle shed for more than 4,000 bicycles. After winning the selection in 2019, diederendirrix created the design for Velo, together with Civic, Delva and Hollandsgroen. Construction will start in early 2025 and will be completed at the end of 2027.

Read more about the project here.

A new generation of owners is at the helm at diederendirrix. The architecture and urban planning office, which was founded in 1999 by Paul Diederen and Bert Dirrix, has been among the top in the Netherlands for years. And nothing will change if it is up to the new shareholders. They continue the current course and look to the future with enthusiasm.

In safe hands

The majority of the shares of diederendirrix and its subsidiary bureauEAU were transferred as of May 31, 2024. Bram van Ekeren, Niels Ponjee, Jeroen Schipper and Ruud van der Zanden have joined as new owners. Theo Hauben, Tom Kuipers and Rob Meurders took this step in 2018. All familiar faces, because they have all been working for the organization for years.

It has been more than proven that the new group of owners can handle the responsibility. Since the new partners joined in 2018, they have carried a major and ever-growing responsibility for the agency’s oeuvre, both in the field of urban planning and architecture and construction technology. The takeover feels like a natural next step for the new shareholders and the rest of the team. Paul Diederen and Bert Dirrix remain involved in the background as co-shareholders and advisors. This ensures a gradual transition.

Projects that matter

Architectural firm diederendirrix provides energy to city districts, neighborhoods and buildings. This with respect for the past and present, but with a better future as the goal. You could say that this philosophy also applies to this takeover. This way the name – and the heritage that goes with it – remains intact. So there is no change for the sake of change. Innovated to keep up with the times,  because the increasingly complex integrated tasks that diederendirrix tackles require professionalization of processes and collaborations. But the focus is mainly on creating meaningful work with a committed team. Executing projects that matter, that are socially relevant and that are helpful for people. Because that is what makes this group’s heart beat faster.

Ready for the future

Thanks to the new ownership and organizational structure, diederendirrix and bureauEAU can continue for years to come. Based on proactive entrepreneurship, the new group of owners involves future generations. This ensures resilience, broad representation and a flow of new impulses. In short, diederendirrix goes into the future with an open mind and creates space to shape it together. With colleagues, partners and clients.

Contact Anneke Molin for more information: info@diederendirrix.nl or +31 40 26 06 740

The BNA Beste Gebouw van het Jaar is an architectural award presented annually since 2006 by the Branchevereniging Nederlandse Architectenbureaus (BNA). In addition to architectural quality, the award considers usability and experiential value, added societal value, and collaboration. This year’s festive award ceremony was held at the Bunkertoren in Eindhoven.

The design and engineering team of the Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen, along with the client, received the public award from jury chair Marcia Luyten. In our Identity and Iconic Value category, the beautiful expansion of Museum Paleis Het Loo by KAAN Architecten won. The jury prize was awarded to the particularly stunning transformation of the ITC Faculty of the University of Twente, designed by Civic Architects.

From the jury report: The jury finds that the Van Gogh Village Museum is well-situated and admires the composition and bold use of color and materials. The existing building—a former town hall and national monument—and the new construction are beautifully connected with atriums and vistas. Outside, you immediately feel the unique atmosphere created by the large cut in the facade. In the front facade, a large window is perfectly positioned to frame the view of Van Gogh’s parental home across the street like a painting.

Visit the Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen!

We are pleased to announce that diederendirrix, in partnership with CRA Vastgoed, has won the tender for the redevelopment of the Scholenstrip in Heelsum, on the edge of the Veluwe. In collaboration with landscape architects Buro Harro, ecologist David de Vos, and Volantis, diederendirrix will design a nature-inclusive neighborhood featuring over 60 hybrid bio-based homes, most of which will fall into the social and middle segments.

For Bosplaats Jac. P. Thijsse, we are adopting a regenerative strategy focused on nature conservation, enhancing the local ecosystem, and fostering community. The existing landscape will serve as the mold within which we will develop residential clusters. By strengthening the green infrastructure, it will evolve into a diverse forest with inhabited forest rooms, connected to the village through walking paths and play areas.

To maximize space for nature, storage, outdoor spaces, and parking areas will be integrated into the buildings as much as possible. The building clusters will embrace communal yards, forming the vibrant heart of each unique forest room. Here, you live with nature, in a forest that belongs to everyone, as if you were on vacation.

We look forward to working with our partners, the municipality, and local residents to further develop our plan in the coming period.

BNA Best Building of the Year is an Dutch architectural prize that has been awarded annually since 2006 by the Trade Association of Dutch Architectural Firms (BNA). In addition to architectural quality, the user and experience value, the added social value and cooperation are also taken into account. This time the festive presentation of the prize took place in the Bunkertoren in Eindhoven.

The design & engineering team of the Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen, together with the client, received the public award from jury chairman Marcia Luyten. In our Identity and Icon Value category, the beautiful extension of Museum Paleis Het Loo by KAAN Architecten won. The jury prize went to the exceptionally beautiful transformation of the ITC Faculty of TU Twente designed by Civic Architects.

From the jury report: The jury believes that the Van Gogh Village Museum is in a good place and is charmed by the composition and the pronounced use of color and materials. The existing building – former town hall and national monument – and the new construction are beautifully connected with voids and views. Outside you immediately feel the special atmosphere, due to the large cut in the facade. In the front facade, a large window is also positioned exactly in such a way that the view of Van Gogh’s parental home opposite is framed like a painting.

Go visit the Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen!

We are proud that the Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen has been nominated for the BNA Best Building of the Year 2024. The professional jury selected eleven projects this year from nearly a hundred submissions that are eligible for the award. The nominated projects are divided into four categories. One winner will be chosen per category. The overall winner, not necessarily one of the category winners, will be chosen by the professional jury as the BNA Best Building of the Year. The public can also vote until May 7th to determine the winner of the audience award.

The professional organization for Dutch architects has been organizing this award annually since 2006. In 2013, we were honored to receive the jury prize for Ketelhuis Ceres, and in 2020, we won the audience award for the Domusdela project. We are very pleased that with our modest expansion of the Van Gogh Village Museum, we have another chance at this prestigious award.

The design for the museum in Nuenen is a carefully researched, contemporary interpretation of history. On the open space next to the current museum once stood two small farms. The new volume designed for this purpose follows the historical subdivision and refers to the ’langskap’ farms of yesteryear. The old barn doors reappear in a new variant at the entrance, which gracefully opens the building to the village, with Van Gogh’s parents’ rectory and the house next door, where his forbidden love once lived, across the street.

Vincent depicts in Nuenen particularly the everyday, tough lives of farmers and weavers. From December 1883 to November 1885, he created a quarter of his total oeuvre here. The painting “The Potato Eaters” is one of them. The canvas is on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Another version, the first not yet fully finished version, is located in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. In the museum in Nuenen, the scene depicted in the painting is staged. For this occasion, Tom Kuipers, Thorsten Schneider, Rob van den Broek, and Rob Meurders found it an irresistible idea to capture a group portrait of the design and engineering team.

Visit the Van Gogh Village Museum in Nuenen, but first, cast your vote for the museum for BNA Best Building of the Year 2024 via this link.