It will be several years before the transformation of the Pieter Baan Centre in Utrecht’s Gansstraat into housing and workspaces is fully completed. In the meantime, KondorWessels Vastgoed has therefore opted for a creative approach to using this former psychiatric clinic and remand centre. The former women’s prison, director’s residence and concrete observation clinic are gradually being opened up for small companies, artists and creative entrepreneurs. KondorWessels Vastgoed is even on the lookout for more temporary tenants.
Opening up the area
Since there still needs to be an amended zoning plan and a definitive plan for the renovation, it will be some time before work starts. Until then, this place will remain a creative incubator. Recent years have already seen the emergence of several spontaneous initiatives. They include the video art by Light-up and the Uncloud festival. Under the direction of KondorWessels Vastgoed, the area is now increasingly opening up.
Video by RTV Utrecht
In search of more creative tenants
Thomas Piekhaar from KondorWessels Vastgoed: “Our development plans for this area will provide a new future for the building. That future will be all about openness, connection and growth. This is why we’re already prioritising ‘placemaking’. It’s enabling us to improve the quality of this area at an early stage; people are already eager to come here. Via our management organisation ‘Het Wakkere End’, we’re still looking for more creative tenants. We’re even tentatively considering providing emergency refuge for vulnerable young people. We just need to explore the feasibility of it a little further.”
History lives on
Pieter Baan had progressive ideas about preventing criminal behaviour that were ahead of his time. For years, the centre was used as a prison. People suspected of serious crimes were examined by behavioural experts here. In World War II, resistance heroes were held prisoner in the barracks on the site. The former women’s prison, the director’s residence and the concrete observation clinic remain largely intact. Even the cells have been preserved.
Telling the tale
Thanks to KondorWessels Vastgoed, part of that history will also be preserved in the new complex, explains Piekhaar. “We aim to continue to tell the tale of history. We plan to do that using QR codes that allow you to see the history for yourself. There are also imminent plans for an ‘Experience’. This will enable visitors to experience what it was like to be imprisoned at Pieter Baan.”