Jacking industrial heritage
The Balengebouw is an important piece of industrial heritage in the Dutch city of Enschede. It is one of the few buildings that survived the major fireworks disaster in the area, although it suffered substantial structural damage.
The Balengebouw was later transformed into a cultural venue, based on a design by the architectural firms SeARCH and OMA, led by Rem Koolhaas. To create sufficient floor height for an additional glass level, the building’s distinctive tower and upper floors were jacked up by three metres.
Nowadays, the building is occupied by a newspaper company and a television station.
