Architect Profile – Ron van der Veen – Architect Pursues Passion for Metal Expression

by Jonathan McGaha | October 31, 2016 12:00 am

Simple, well-crafted materials contribute to education project designs

Ron van der Veen, FAIA, LEED AP, principal at Seattle- based NAC Inc. (NAC Architecture)[1], pushes the limits of design and materials in all of the projects he completes. Van der Veen’s first built project, when he was working at Seattle-based Mithun Inc. in 1987, was a dumpster enclosure for bio-waste at Northwest Kidney Center on Capital Hill in Seattle.

“I remember I got this little 10-foot by 16-foot dumpster enclosure and I said, you know what, this is going to be the best dumpster enclosure in Seattle,” he says. “I designed it as a temple, combining concrete block as a base and then corrugated metal as a lighter element. I just loved experimenting on mundane projects wherever I could.”

Studied Focus

Van der Veen traces his interest in metal materials to his father, who was a tool-and-die maker and worked with steel, copper and other metals. “He’d bring me to the shop every once in a while, where I could see these really interesting things, and I’ve just always been intrigued with the possibilities of metal, the beauty of metal,” van der Veen says. “I understood later on, as an architect, this was the reason I loved working in steel and metal so much.”

In the mid-1990s, van der Veen realized which types of projects he was most passionate about and began sharpening the focus of his efforts. “About 20 years ago I was working on multifamily projects, mixed-use, retail and commercial work, just kind of a spattering of things. And I wasn’t really settled with that,” van der Veen says. “I wanted to sink my roots into something I really believed in architecturally, aesthetically and also socially.”

The project that captured van der Veen’s interest was Stevens Court at the University of Washington in Seattle, which Mithun won in a design competition. The student housing project is located on a dense site. It has underground parking and was organized around two green spaces. Instead of traditional, double-loaded corridors, all the units open to courtyards.

“I was excited to be part of a project that was very urban and yet pedestrian oriented,” van der Veen says. “And I got kinda hooked. From there I just started doing more and more projects, highered projects, building that practice for Mithun. And just grasped that this was a career direction I truly believed in from a social standpoint.”

Van der Veen is the first in his family to get a college degree. His parents, Rouke and Henny van der Veen, immigrated to the U.S. in 1957, and did not go to college. “Because of the impact higher education had on my family, I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” van der Veen says. “And then from an aesthetic standpoint, I felt like some of the best work in America was happening in colleges and universities. So it was kind of an altruistic and personal passion that drove me to higher education.”

Metal Connection

Van der Veen left Mithun after more than 20 years and worked at another firm for a few years before coming to NAC Architecture, which specializes in educational facilities and health care facilities. NAC Architecture’s designs acknowledge the concept of biophilia, that human beings have this inherent need to connect to nature for well-being. “We see this biophilic connection with nature is incredibly vital,” van der Veen says. “It gives these buildings an aesthetic quality and it really enhances the well-being of people that use them.”

Van der Veen sees metal materials as essential to his ability to execute designs that make strong connections between indoor and outdoor spaces. “What I really love about steel and metal is it’s inherently light, and if you think about that as an architectural expression you get the possibilities to open up walls and allow this connection between outdoors and indoors, especially in learning environments. The idea of maximizing natural light, maximizing views, maximizing connection to nature is so important not only for aesthetic purposes, but for the idea, the sense of wellness, social, emotional wellness of students.”

Metal Motivation

One education project van der Veen designed with metal and glass to connect indoor and outdoor spaces was University Center at South Seattle College in Seattle, which was completed in 2007.

South Seattle College was transitioning from a community college to a four-year institution, and the project connected the campus’ two halves: the technical, vocational area and the area where students were preparing to complete four-year degrees. “Right in the middle was this little wedge, it was a link between these two parts of campus and they wanted to put a new classroom building there, [where students] could get their four-year degrees on campus,” van der Veen says.

There are many first-generation college students at South Seattle College, van der Veen says. “There was a real need for a sense of empowerment, so we wanted everybody that was getting their fouryear degree to be in almost like a fishbowl, so that their peers could see them as they were walking by,” he says. “Everybody felt like there was nothing inhibiting them from opening those doors and being part of what was going on inside.”

The University Center was constructed with structural steel, concrete sidewalls, open curtainwall for the front façade, exposed, corrugated metal for the back façade and exposed, corrugated metal decking for the ceiling. “It had a very open feel and look,” van der Veen says.

Detailing Metal

Another design NAC Architecture is completing for a college transitioning from a two-year to a four-year institution is the first student housing for Bellevue College in Bellevue, Wash. Van der Veen says his firm is balancing a low-maintenance, institutional quality design with a residential budget. “This is where I think metal siding has played an incredibly important role in this project,” he says. “We want to create as much depth as we can with an otherwise pretty flat looking building, and we’re doing that through metal detailing, and just trying to take a very simple material and try to do some playful experiments with it.”

The primary material for the project is standard corrugated metal siding with exposed fasteners. Van der Veen says his firm is working with the contractor to identify atypical ways to fabricate and install corners, soffits, parapets and other details. “We want everything to feel like a knife edge,” he says. “We don’t want anything that’s sort of clunky or standard; we want everything to look really crisp.”

Van der Veen says horizontal lines wrap around the building and give it another sense of depth. He says they are experimenting with various fasteners, spacers and washers for the corrugated metal panels in common areas to extend them from the building and create depth and shadow-lines. “It might sound corny, but it’s kind of like the stuff my dad did, really well crafted, and using very simple metal materials,” van der Veen says.

“We’re trying to push the expressive qualities of pretty simple, off-the-shelf materials. It’s a little bit like jazz. You’re taking a simple score and trying to improvise with it.”

 

Arch Connect

What type of music do you listen to?

I just love 1960s and 1970s soul. Jazz, when I want to appear sophisticated.

What do you do on weekends?

I am always amazed at how much I sleep on the weekends, and it never seems like enough! This may sound corny, but I really love hanging out with my wife too.

Where is your favorite place to vacation?

We have a remote little getaway near Mt. Baker in northern Washington. No phone service, no Internet, no TV, and only two-and-a-half hours from Seattle.

Which historical figure would you like to have dinner with and why?

I’d be really interested in having dinner with Jesus, that Nazarene carpenter who changed world history.

What is an important piece of advice you received as an architect?

Never get good at doing things you don’t like doing.

Photo credits, top to bottom:
Headshot: no credit.
Student housing at Bellevue College, Bellevue, Wash.: Rendering: LiFang
University Center at South Seattle College, Seattle: Juan Hernandez
University Center at South Seattle College, Seattle: Juan Hernandez

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/architect-profile-ron-van-der-veen/

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