Location: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague, Netherlands
This building corresponds to the former US Embassy, having been designated as a national monument since 2017. It’s currently occupied by the West Den Haag visual art institution.
Opening Hours: Every day from 12h00 – 18h00
Admission: 10€ | 3€ for students
Information as of April 6, 2020. Check their Website for information about other offers.
The United States Embassy in The Hague was built as a response to the US government program to promote modern architecture in its embassies and consulates around the world. Breuer ended up being the selected architect for the commission in the Netherlands, since his UNESCO buildings were held in high esteem around Europe.The building is located at the corner of Lange Voorhout and Korte Voorhout, and it is divided in two volumes: one for the Embassy and one for the Information Centre. The Embassy – seen in the picture – is facing west to the Lange Voorhout, a large boulevard set in a wide wooded space.View of the facade on the Lange Voorhout boulevard. Both buildings are shaped as a four storey tall, rectangular block, measuring 39.6 x 12.2 metres.The facades are clad in stone panels, alternating between matte striated volcanic limestones and polished granite of the same tone and colour.The facade stones compose a pattern of “two vertical trapezoidal panels, longer and shorter, with horizontal rectangular panels above and below”.The windows, also trapezoidal in shape, are offset at each floor with respect to those above and below, which helps create a more dynamic facade.Detail of the trapezoidal windows – narrower at the bottom and wider at the top. It’s possible to notice how the stone panels above the windows are slightly recessed when compared to the rest of the stones that clad the facade, creating a cast angled shadow across the facade and giving it a less monotonous look.View of the two-storey tall, recessed entrance of the Embassy building.Detail of the handrail and the stairs that belong to the recessed entrance.Detail of the wooden window frame on the entrance.The corner created by the recessed entrance. The limestone panels of the facade give way to smaller stones made out of the same material, while the floor is clad in granite slabs.View from the entrance hall of the Embassy. Inside, the floors are paved with rectangular slabs of split Norwegian slate, and the walls are clad with small rectangular panels of the same volcanic limestone that was used on the external facade.Another view of the Lange Voorhout facade, characterised by the presence of the balcony and the recessed entrance.View of the variation caused by the offset of the trapezoidal windows.Both volumes are lifted about a metre above the sidewalk, being supported by a recessed black brick base that creates a permanent shadow line beneath the buildings.The coexistence between the Embassy and the Information Centre. Breuer opted to offset the two buildings at the street corner, pushing the side facade of the Embassy 3 meters forward of the front facade of the Information Centre.The two blocks are connected at each floor by glazed bridges that cross the approximately 6 meters of space that separate them. This glass-walled bridge allows any passerby to get a glimpse of the inner-garden courtyard, and it also gives a view of the city to those who cross it inside, when passing between the two buildings.The Information Building’s front facade presents the only exception to the wall and window pattern that is replicated along the two volumes. This exception consists of a section that is clad in all rectangular slabs, opened with vertical, slim windows – a design that is reminiscent of the De Bijenkorf building that Breuer designed in Rotterdam, also in the Netherlands.Just like the Embassy, the Information Centre also receives its own two-storey tall, recessed entrance.View from the Korte Voorhout, where it’s possible to see the integration of the building in the city. It’s important to notice that Breuer opted to divide the program between two volumes so that it would be possible to reduce the presence of what would be a large building.View from the Smidsplein, where it’s possible to see how the two volumes form, together, an L-shaped plan. Inside the courtyard, it’s also possible to see the trapezoidal-shaped auditorium that is placed behind the Information Center.
All photographs taken on the 29th December 2019 with a Nikon D3200 | Lens: AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED
(Except for photos no. 03, 04, 11, 14, 15, 18 and 19 shot with a Nikon COOLPIX P500)
References:
Robert McCarter, Marcel Breuer, Phaidon Press, 2016
My Architectural Guide 