Location: Otterlo
Year: 2022
Area: 1.060 m2
Status: concept
Client: private
Team: Remko Remijnse, Kristina Barbalat, Vittoria Marino

In 2022 2by4 was asked by a private client to design a new stable building for a manege in Otterlo. The manege complex is important for horse riding, since even Olympic athletes train there, so it required a bigger and more comfortable stable building, tearing down the existing one. The building has very specific space requirements to respect, like the dimension of the horse’s boxes and passages, plus the need for an administrative area, with office spaces. On the northern side the building faces the main training track, while on the southern side wide open fields spread as far as the eye can see.
This existing setting joined with the client’s needs, was the starting point for the design, resulting in a long building, with a more active side towards north and a more quite/calm side towards south, for both human and animal users, while the position of the office block is made explicit through the use of a taller volume with a clock, useful during the training, and the main entrance, while the corridors between the stables end on both sides with entrances for horses. The long corridors with stables on both sides need light but, at the same time, horses need rest, so the openings in the stables towards outside can often be closed. For this reason the roof needs to host a good amount of openings, so light can come in, without annoying the animals.
The design developed into two different approaches to the program:
One concept is a long curved volume, with pitch roof and Mediterranean vibes, given by the use of stucco and the massive monolithic volume of the clock tower. The roof is made by two sloping slabs overlapping on different heights, the light enters through the gap between the two slopes.
The second concept is a long straight volume, with pitch roof and geometric order in the facade, due to use of framed wooden panels, that extend up to the top of the clock tower. The appearance is much more Nordic compared to the first concept, through the use of wood and symmetrical roof slopes. The interior is a long cathedral-like environment, with skylights and cuts in the roof for the whole length of the building.