Zandgast ‘beach guest’

Pitch -design for visitors center-

Province of South Holland and Satellietgroep wrote a closed contest/ pitch to come up with a sketch design for a public-friendly information facility and artist residence at the unique location of the Sand Motor (ZM). The ZM is an artificial peninsula off the coast of Ter Heijde. This sand replenishment serves to protect the coast.

As the main location for information transfer to the public, MIXD designed an access route to the visitor center and strategically provided it with a palisade.
The contour of the ebb and flood mark of the Sand Motor’s inception year form the plan of that route. The flanking palisade will be made of planks sawn from discarded river bank construction. This will create space for display cases for artifacts and information in addition to providing shelter and framing the view of the landscape (and the ZM).

The program of requirements for the visitor center had not been established. It was clear, however, that it had to be able to grow and change over time. Therefore, MIXD chose a modular design with shipping containers. Given the context, a logical choice and also appropriate for the minimal building budget.