Architect Maarten van Kesteren sets new standard for school buildings in the Netherlands

Abe Bonnema Prize for transformation vocational school Nimeto

Maarten van Kesteren (1988) won the Abe Bonnema Prize for Young Architects 2024 in December for the transformation of vocational school Nimeto in Utrecht. According to the jury, Nimeto is an achievement of exceptional, high architectural quality, inspiring future generations and setting an example through the application of innovative concepts and aspects. For this, the architect received a sum of 20,000 euros. This was presented by Ed Nijpels, chairman of the ir. Abe Bonnema Foundation.

The jury used superlatives to describe the winning project: impressive, moving, formidable and outstanding. With a few very simple interventions, and supported by an enthusiastic client, Maarten van Kesteren has transformed the existing buildings and the public space around them into a superconsistent, sturdy ensemble with a high spatial and architectural quality. Additional space for the growing number of students has been found within the existing buildings. By adding voids in the ground floor, the basements have been made usable for education. With Nimeto, Maarten van Kesteren is setting a new standard for school buildings. The project supports the plea to preserve school buildings and not to replace them rücksichtslos by new construction.

Jury chair Meta Knol: "The architect has listened carefully to the different voices in the organization and has also paid attention to the position of the school in the neighborhood. The garden is publicly accessible. There is social added value because the neighborhood association can meet in the school and residents are allowed to use the open workshops."

Jury and other nominations

The independent jury consisted of Meta Knol, Mels Crouwel, Steven Delva, Wilma Kempinga, Gus Tielens and Nathalie de Vries. Three more architectural firms were nominated for the Abe Bonnema Prize for Young Architects 2024: Jelmer Buurma & Sneha Dugar (Buurma Dugar architects), Joey Rademakers (The New Context) and Inez Tan (Office Winhov).

Concerns about the future

The jury is concerned about whether young architects have sufficient opportunities in the current climate. There is hardly a competition culture in the Netherlands anymore and the central government has withdrawn from architectural policy. Young architects get almost no chance to work on government buildings as an earlier generation did at a very young age. Governments should be aware that by doing so they are depriving the young generation of opportunities to develop. Kudos to the client who does.

The full jury report can be downloaded at abebonnemaprijs.nl  

By presenting the Abe Bonnema Prize, the Abe Bonnema Foundation aims to contribute to stimulating the quality of architecture in the Netherlands. Through this architecture prize, the legacy of the Frisian architect ir Abe Bonnema (1926-2001) is honored. The Abe Bonnema Architecture Prize 2025 will be awarded to the architect of the best building, designated by the jury, completed in the Netherlands in the last two years (2024-2023). An independent and expert jury selects a minimum of three and a maximum of five nominations based on the evaluation criteria and the annual theme.

MBO Nimeto in Utrecht is a vocational school for "creative space makers," with subjects such as restoration, window dressing, painting and set design. Before the transformation, the building consisted of five building sections, built between 1967 and 2016 and bisected by a street. It did not feel like one school. Ad hoc interventions had made the simple beauty of the original architecture unreadable. The charm of the sections was drowned out and hidden behind closed doors to generic corridors.

Next edition - registration is open

Registration for the Abe Bonnema Architecture Prize 2025 starts on Wednesday, March 26. Architects will have two months to submit their project via the website abebonnemaaprijs.nl. The winner will receive a certificate and a cash prize of 50,000 euros. Participation is open to all architects, regardless of age, who are registered in an architectural register (the Dutch Architects Register or a foreign register). Sofie De Caigny is the new chairman of the jury.