Studio Hartzema works with strong values in a changing world. We combine a broad view and a subservient attitude with a good sense of aesthetics. We are able to bring opposing interests together in convincing spatial designs.
The city, buildings and the space between the buildings form Studio Hartzema’s field of work, embedded in their regional and landscape context. We are good at observing and seeing connections. Studio Hartzema foresees a future for complex spatial assignments by dissecting them and providing them with clear solutions and simple alternatives. With dedication and patience, we work on grand plans and the smallest details. Everything to make the world a little more beautiful.
Studio Hartzema’s attitude is open, respectful and generous. In the same way that we approach the environment, we work together with everyone involved in the design. Design as a team effort.
Westblaak 49
Studio Hartzema has its office in so called Grotiushuis in the heart of Rotterdam. In our sun-drenched open space on the third floor of this beautiful Postwar Monument, all the functionalities of the office come together. Here we work four days a week (Monday-Thursday), which gives everyone the opportunity to do other things in a long weekend. The central location places us in the middle of the urban dynamics, and within walking distance of the metro and Rotterdam Central Station. The employees live for the most part in the city itself. We see a variety of nationalities and a balanced mix of men and women as a strength. We mainly work in the Netherlands and find proximity to the customer and the project location one of our strong assets. Call us on +31 10-2810751 or mail@studiohartzema.com, we are never far away!We verbinden een brede blik en een dienstbare grondhouding met een goed gevoel voor esthetiek. Henk Hartzema
Designing freedom
Studio Hartzema creates designs with timeless beauty. Spatial design is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve places where people feel at home. Places with harmony between buildings and green space, places of vastness or intimacy. Thorough knowledge and well developed skills, together with passion for the job form our signature of excellence. A successful design responds to human needs instead of adjusting them. For us, spaces should not be designed for how people should behave, but create the conditions in which everyone can feel free. Making space, letting space.
Connective architecture
From our urban planning background, Studio Hartzema designs buildings and urban details that are an inseparable part of their environment, in scale, size and meaning. Collective spaces, bridges, monuments and urban buildings that provide connection. In doing so, we use proven space typologies and use a clear handwriting. With an eye for detail, we make the design appropriate to the use and meaning. Beyond functionality, we use the imagination of architecture. Articulation, use of colour, tactility are used to make a place or space special. Meticulous attention to the right materials, use of colour and finish underline our attention and thoroughness. Because we care. Projects such as the Atrium Amsterdam UMC and the Schilperoort Memorial demonstrate the chosen approach to promote human connection and honor the context with their presence and spaciousness.
The beginning
In 2005, Henk Hartzema founded his studio with the aim of developing an organic form of design. No preconceived recipe or fixed visual language, but the use and experience of space at the center. With an investigative approach and by means of consistent qualitative standards, Studio Hartzema has since built on knowledge and experience gained in previous projects and collected through research. Studio Hartzema's portfolio is now filled with numerous outstanding projects, with a central place for sustainable environments for living, working, education and care, and combinations thereof. In addition, the extremes of the scale spectrum are explored in an oeuvre in which the scale of architecture on the one hand and regional developments on the other also find a place. A large dose of energy and continued curiosity about the world around us are tools to master the design tasks. In 2019, FRESH, an independent institute for research and development, was also founded. This not only develops knowledge, but also actively shares it within and outside the professional world.
Ergonomics at all scales
Space is seen with its inherent value and iteration sharpens all ideas into new, sublimated forms and boundaries, appropriate to man's relationship to his environment. Studio Hartzema serves in various roles in this process of space making; designer, initiator, director, listener, visioner, researcher, communicator. We feel very comfortable with clients who focus on content, with a broader view and a long time perspective. By focusing on people and their perception, we transform abstract concepts and complex processes into concrete spatial solutions. The focus is on things that really matter, recognized by everyone and that are of lasting value. We seek connection by spatial design characterized by common sense and beauty.
Research
Studio Hartzema uses research to draw vistas. Outside the reality of everyday life, the gaze is further forward. FRESH (Free REsearch Studio Hartzema) was founded in 2019 to conduct fundamental research into the use of space and the way in which people experience spatiality. In this context, ongoing international research is being conducted into the role of infrastructure in spatial planning. Roads are the mirror of a society and have a major influence on the image of a city or country. In addition, Studio Hartzema | FRESH. A domain almost completely abandoned by planners and claimed by landscape architecture needs, in addition to water and soil, guidance from an anthropocentric perspective. The view of man and the careful and sustainable way in which man uses his environment. Recently, Studio Hartzema | FRESH has conducted multiple research into the Southwest delta under the name Zeelandia.Finding the need
The recognition of the primary needs is an essential part of any design assignment. We also believe that a design becomes more successful if it responds to the environment and makes choices for the future of city and country. In the design process of each project, the original need of the client evolves and configures into solutions that benefit the broader context and the further future. If design can be seen as allowing and embracing the many truths that interact with each other to create a new reality – and not as the expression of the designer's own personality – then the requirement may nevertheless be made that the result meets the original needs, however complex.
De herkenning van de primaire behoeften is een essentieel onderdeel van elke ontwerpopgave.
The iterative process
Once the limitations of the design problem have been outlined, we rely on an iterative process to create good spaces, places, neighbourhoods, cities and landscapes. Studio Hartzema makes use of storylines, arithmetic exercises, models, variant studies and reference studies. Sharp analyses and tangible proposals are on our side. This applies to collecting and sharing ideas for something concrete like a building, but for something intangible like a region, and everything in between. Clear visualisations enables us to recognize the success of an idea and to communicate it with the client and his environment. Innovation is not an end in itself. Rather, the search for the contemporary and future-proof translation of successful spaces and environments and placing them in the context of the assignment. Where the danger of any innovation is the chance to lose the wisdom that had been put into the development of the idea until then, building on the many constants in human needs is the essence. What works well will last a long time.
