Former prison transformed to public learning community
The Cupola [Koepel] prison, build around 1900, is a national monument and the connection between the main city center and the other side of the Spaarne river, traditionally not so rich and attractive. The renovating and repurposing started as a citizens' initiative. After a 6-year process, the former prison has been transformed into a place of hope. Today, the Cupola is the public epicentre for education, digital knowledge for future-proof small businesses, tourism and culture.
Regional
Netherlands
Province North Holland, Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, City of Haarlem
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-12-31
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): Stichting Panopticon Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Jacqueline Last name of representative: Van de Sande Gender: Female Nationality: Netherlands Function: Founding mother and advisor Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Bakkumstraat 43 Town: Haarlem Postal code: 2011TZ Country: Netherlands Direct Tel:+31 6 54780766 E-mail:jvandesande@beaumontcommunicatie.nl Website:https://opendekoepel.nl/wiedoenermee/
Name of the organisation(s): Cupola XS Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Mike Last name of representative: Rijkers Gender: Male Nationality: Netherlands Function: Co-founder & Managing Director Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Koepelplein 1E Town: Haarlem Postal code: 2031WL Country: Netherlands Direct Tel:+31 6 42736221 E-mail:mike@cupolaxs.nl Website:https://www.cupolaxs.nl
The Cupola [Koepel] prison, build around 1900, is a national monument and the connection between the main city center and the other side of the Spaarne river, traditionally not so rich and attractive. In 2014 a few citizens of Haarlem decided to try to change the perspective, and bought the prison from the National Government with the Panopticon Foundation they established and the city of Haarlem had to give permission. The magisterial Cupola - now the focal point of the area - is transformed into a sustainable indoor city square to meet, study, work, eat, and go to the movies and exhibitions.
The foundation is collaborating with many parties to reach its goals, including:
Lifelong learning
By providing small business (SB) owners and their employees access to applied digital technologies, knowledge and talent, Cupola XS accelerates innovation and strength for SB and their workers. In this way, we allow them to further develop in and contribute to areas such as digitization, circular economy and inclusive labor market.
Education
The German SRH Group (SRH) and the Dutch Global School for Entrepreneurship (GSE) are working together on an international and unique program for higher education for 650 students. To set up this ‘University of Small and Medium Business’, SRH and GSE are working with regional, national and international science institutes.
Culture
The Filmkoepel have built a 600 seat theater in large cellar halls. A broad selection of quality films are shown to the public, from documentaries to Hollywood blockbusters.
The Panopticon Foundation also stays active at the cupola. The cultural event ‘Architectural Healing’ (+10,000 visitors), served as the end to the building’s use as a prison, displaying visual arts, theatre, music, poetry and literature in relation to the rich - and sometimes dark - history of the Cupola. The Panopticon Foundation still runs a program for culture, dialogue and inclusion.
Sustainable urban rehabilitation
Resilient Small Businesses
Cultural, educational, and business collaboration
Digital Education and Skills
Lifelong learning
The renovation shows that it is possible to make a national monument highly sustainable while preserving the monumental values. The sustainability class has gone from “G” to “A+++”. The cupola is therefore also an icon of the future in terms of use of energy. Of course, this did not happen automatically.
The foundation, architect, contractor, installer, constructor and other consultants jointly sought and strived for the most optimal solutions within the (im)possibilities of the existing monument, installations and legal standards. This integrated approach ultimately ensured that the cupola was renovated in a high-quality manner within schedule and (well) within budget.
“Listening” to and using the building's qualities and limitations was leading in the search for sustainable solutions. We used the mass and shape of the building. The cupola with almost 3,000 m2 of roof surface was an opportunity for acoustic and energetic damping with almost 160mm insulation of two types. Acoustic ceilings (with integrated LED luminaires), the "cell ring" as a heat buffer, a smart ventilation (overflow) concept make the cupola an almost energy-neutral, CO2-neutral building. A Heat-Cold-Storage power source completes the concept.
Cupola XS, ROM InWest and Haarlem Campus
We want to further accelerate the transition around sustainability. Regional development agency ROM InWest located at Cupola XS is the public fund of the province and many municipalities in North-Holland. They invest 160 million in scaling up sustainable innovations. ROM InWest and Cupola XS also jointly organize information meetings for entrepreneurs about scaling up sustainable innovations. In Haarlem Campus' curriculum students have case studies for small and medium sized business. In these studies, they experiment with more sustainable business models, including waste management within the Cupola.
Panopticon foundation's view
Programming functions in this formerly inaccessible area is key; this is what opens the area to the public. Connection to the city with an attractive square after crossing the Spaarne river. Underground parking for cars and bicycles. An area where every visitor can walk around freely, including various entrances. The building is open to the public 7 days a week, from 7 a.m. to midnight, to become the living room of many in the city, of course for the people who work there, study and go to the movies, but also for the neighborhood and visitors to the city.
Elaboration design of the Cupola itself
Respect for the monument, bearing in mind the future use. The cupola itself has been stripped of all non-monumental elements, restored in a way that keeps showing the signs of the times, but at the same time can last another 100 years. Each cell has been given an extra window, applied in a very restrained manner, so that daylight can enter. In addition, a transparent and light-footed built-in has been made, at a distance from the monumental corridors and spiral staircases. The original construction thus remains intact and visible. The acoustics had a reverberation time of almost 7 seconds and the building was dark. Acoustic measures have reduced the reverberation time to approximately 1 second and daylight panels create a pleasant and warm atmosphere in the building.
How is the space used now
Keep a central vision on the use of the building. The panopticon principle, with an eye from the inside to all prisoners, is turned into a central theatre, where workers, students and visitors have their eyes on the center. A place that has housed prisoners for more than a hundred years, where Syrian refugees were received for a year and where, since the opening in 2022 people are studying, meeting, being inspired by culture and working on the future of their business and career. This is only possible when every partner is involved with the whole.
The magisterial Cupola is transformed into a sustainable indoor city square to meet, study, work, eat, and go to the movies and exhibitions. The functionality from the building changed from a closed prison to public and accessible space that welcomes everyone with accessible entrees, lifts and other measurements and programs to make the activities affordable. Examples of these programs are:
Lifelong learning in an inclusive labor market
Cupola XS’ programs focus on peer learning, such as Digital Power (masterclasses by and for small business leaders) and co-learning, such as Digifit (workshops for professionals in the same field of expertise). There are also programs that are focused on activating groups that are underrepresented in IT: children follow courses about entrepreneurship from various role models with Triple Threat and Techgrounds guides people with a distance to the labor market to retrain for an IT career with a focus on more women and cultural backgrounds.
Grants and social housing
Grants are provided for people who cannot afford to pay, we have focused on social housing for students, who can live relatively cheaply for at least the first 1.5 years of their studies. In addition, there is room for 100 other youth homes, part of which for supervised living or young people reintegrating into society. The young people share facilities and of course the cupola itself with the students.
Culture
Agreements have been made with the schools in Haarlem and the surrounding area for an educational program aimed at the theme of inclusion and discrimination. An additional reason is the fact that Hannie Schaft, a well-known resistance heroine from Haarlem, stayed at the cupola prison before she was shot in the dunes near the North Sea. We have restored a prison cell to give students an insight into what it meant to be imprisoned here. And there is the educational program 'How Hannie are you?' to confront children with the nuances of heroism.
Open the Cupola is the citizens initiative to transform the monumental cupola prison in Haarlem into a multifunctional, open building with education at its heart. It was supported by the residents in the vicinity of the building as well as the cultural sector in Haarlem. The former Cupola prison is located on the edge of the old city center in Haarlem. At the ‘wrong’ side of the Spaarne river. The objective was to open the walls to old prison walls for the neighbourhood, students, fellow townspeople and tourists. And to add an economic and educational hot spot in Haarlem, especially on this side of the Spaarne river.
Haarlem is a city with a great history, the former capital of the Netherlands, in the shadow of the capital of today, the vibrant Amsterdam. Haarlem is very attractive for people with families to move to, with for the city the danger of turning into a ‘sleeping beauty’. Where the well-educated population works in Amsterdam, Schiphol, Haarlemmermeer or The Hague, only to come home to Haarlem at the end of the working day. Citizens of Haarlem decided to try to change this perspective, and bought the prison from the National Government with the Panopticon Foundation they established. The city of Haarlem had to give permission, and agreed upon doing so.
The Panopticon Foundation, with the help of their partners Haarlem, created a new center for studying, living, discovering and creating. The monumental prison is now the focal point of the area, surrounded by courtyards and student housing. Parking will be made available underground. The magisterial Cupola is transformed into an indoor city square to meet, study, eat, and go to the movies and exhibitions. The cells are kept intact and used as working spots, stores, consultation rooms and studios.
Citizens of Haarlem bought the prison from the National Government with the Panopticon Foundation. The renovation & repurposing process involved the contribution of all the key stakeholders at municipal and regional level. Today the plot of the former prison provides accommodation to a University College (growing to 650 students) with classrooms and student housing (85 units today, growing to 250), co-workspace (200 desks), (private) offices (84), 6 cinema halls, a hotel, restaurant and cafe, meeting rooms, recording and photography studio and an event space.
The Panopticon Foundation has set the goal to bring education opportunities at an academic level to Haarlem and to open the Cupola premises to a wide audience. The foundation is collaborating with many parties to reach these goals.
Education
The German SRH Group (SRH) and the Dutch Global School for Entrepreneurship (GSE) are working on an international and unique program for higher education, investing in an educational environment including a joint research centre, among others.
Film Cupola
The Movies and the Filmhallen, two well-known cinemas in Amsterdam, have built a 600 seat theater in large cellar halls. The halls are also partly available for educational purposes.
Cupola XS
By providing small business owners and their employees access to applied digital technologies, knowledge and talent, Cupola XS accelerates innovation and strength for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Student and social housing
The DUWO Foundation and Elan Wonen will realize 250 affordable student housing units and 100 social housing units on the Cupola premises. 85 of the housing units for students are situated in the former detention house, next to the Cupola.
Cultural program
The Panopticon Foundation works with organizations and people in Haarlem on an attractive cultural program, especially for children and people that do not always feel invited in a formal setting like a museum or concert hall.
The quality of architecture from the past is usually of a higher order than what we can achieve now, according to architect André van Stigt. The shape of the existing monumental building has been leading in the search for suitable functions and solutions. As a result, it can be safeguarded for future generations. Cultural values are cherished and are enhanced by a well-functioning, modern installation in the building.
The high quality of the restored building is guaranteed by the commitment and experience of all involved employees of contractor HBB Groep, Installer Unica, structural engineer Van Rossum Raaderende Ingenieurs and Peutz and LBP|Sight for fire advice and building physics and architect Buro Van Stigt, also responsible for management and supervision.
As a citizens' initiative, the Panopticon Foundation could rely on a strong local network and tight knots with the neighborhood in the surrounding area. The Panopticon foundation has a program for culture, dialogue and inclusion that fits the goals of the city of Haarlem too.
The SRH Group (SRH) and the Global School for Entrepreneurship (GSE) are working on an international and unique program for higher education, investing in an educational environment including a joint research center, among others. To set up this ‘University of Small and Medium Business’, SRH and GSE are working with regional, national and international science institutes.
By providing small business owners and their employees access to applied digital technologies, knowledge and talent, Cupola XS accelerates innovation and strength for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Cupola XS is an initiative of the founders of Techgrounds (aiming for an inclusive IT labor market) Innovate Today (aiming at accelerating sustainability and digitization in SMEs) and Unknown Group (a venture builder). They build an incubator for small businesses at the cupola, using their experience of the experience of many tech partners.
• 1 magisterial Cupola
• 8 primary schools that joined the educational program 'How Hannie are you?' to confront children with the nuances of heroism.
• 20 led fixtures providing day light
• 82 social student houses completed, still 200 to go
• 84 (private) offices
• 122 students from 28 different countries started at the university college, which is still growing to 650 students
• 256 students from other educational institutes 250 students who worked on issues of SMEs.
• 240 former prison cells
• 200 desks at our co-workspace
• 600 seat theater in large cellar halls
• ~ 10.000 m2 building
• + 10.000 visitors of the cultural event ‘Architectural Healing’ served as the end to the building’s use as a prison, displaying visual arts, theatre, music, poetry and literature in relation to the rich - and sometimes dark - history of the Cupola.
• 12.577 small business owners and their workers co-working and co-learning about applied digital technologies in 2022.
• € 80.000 per year spent on cultural events
• Ability to receive up to 1,000,000 visitors per year
The innovative character of the project is divided in three: the way the initiative came about, the technical reconstruction of the building and the collaboration between the field of education, culture and business that is encouraging to approach the future with optimism.
Citizen’s initiative
How to transform an empty historic cupola prison, a monument, to an open place full of inspiration and hope? How to find a way to do this without huge amounts of public money? How to find functions that add up to the economic meaning of Haarlem as a city? And use it to gentrify a city part that was historically deprived? You need a citizen's initiative to address these different goals, the energy of these volunteers ánd the strength of joining entrepreneurs to connect all the dots.
Building
The cupola has been renovated in a coordinated way with an open book method. The foundation, architect, contractor, installer and other consultants have continuously jointly sought and strived for optimal solutions. This ensured that the cupola was renovated in a high-quality manner within schedule and (well) within budget. The sustainability class has gone from “G” to “A+++”. The cupola is therefore also an icon of the future in terms of use of energy. See this video for more about the renovation: https://youtu.be/5jnfvAPIqVU
Coherency education, culture and business
Not only the building itself, but today’s activities at the cupola are jointly organized, as being on a city square as well. There is something for everyone and not: one size fits all. The students at Haarlem Campus, small business owners who work at Cupola XS and the visitors to the café, restaurant or theaters spontaneously find each other. Due to the open structure of the building and the public approach to sessions, there is a lot of collaboration between these domains, making it easier for different perspectives on change, technology and the future to find each other in a time of filter bubbles and fake news.
Initiative ‘Open the cupola’ turned the panopticon principle of the building into a central theatre. This approach has remained leading for the entire refurbishment of the building, surrounding terrain and the design of new activities: from closed to open, private to public, separated to together and exclusive to inclusive.
Sustainability
“Listening” to and using the building's qualities and limitations was leading in the search for sustainable solutions. Living and working under the roof of the cupola gives energy, but “we” are also economical with energy. The cupola with almost 3,000 m2 of roof surface has been used as an opportunity for acoustic and energetic damping with almost 160mm in two types of insulation and with sustainable LED panels instead of “extra” windows. Acoustic ceilings (with integrated LED luminaires) and the "cell ring" as a heat buffer, a smart ventilation (overflow) concept make the cupola an almost energy-neutral, CO2-neutral building. Especially by using the mass and shape of the building. A Heat-Cold-Storage power source completes the concept.
Building
The cupola has been renovated with an open book calculation in which the client, architect, contractor, installer, constructor and other consultants have continuously jointly sought and strived for the most optimal solutions within the (im)possibilities of the existing building, installations and legal standards. Naturally, quality, planning and budget also had to be taken into account. This integrated approach ultimately ensured that the cupola was renovated in a high-quality manner within schedule and (well) within budget.
Learning and innovation
Innovation is not just about being the best, fastest or most visionary. In today’s cupola our programs are focused on how to apply new technologies and make them available for the whole of society. Cupola XS [‘access’] is for example about providing small business owners and their workers access to digital tools, knowledge and talent
One of the key values of the new cupola is inside out. Many initiatives start inside the cupola, but their yield extends far beyond that. Examples are:
-Many other cities a citizens’ initiatives use ‘Open the Cupola’ as example of citizens empowered physical and social developments. We receive many groups to tell them about the process and support them with knowledge. We also worked with the city of Haarlem on a podcast about the process (https://open.spotify.com/episode/0C02TJEs9yqxoPbKH3xh9N?si=2861c005ef6240ad).
-We made a documentary on living in a prison, that is showed in the Filmkoepel every day and is part of the excursions of local schools. Also included is a lesson with the Hannie Schaft Foundation, about the live and death of this heroin of resistance in WWII.
-We support and speed-up the collaboration between local entrepreneurs with access to knowledge, tools and talent. An example is a project where local shops developed (and own) their local e-commerce platform haarlemsewinkels.nl. We connected them with funds, technical support and other shop owners to build an e-commerce platform without being completely dependent on the big tech parties.
-At our Digital Power program small business owners share their experience with a digital transition with other business leaders. With this we build a community of business and tech experts helping each other.
-The University of Applied Science of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht started a research group focused on responsible applied AI. Cupola is their lab where they collaborate with business owners and experiment.
-In a smaller project we experiment with different ways for robots to interact with humans. Here again researchers will share their findings to other small businesses by publishing and organizing workshops.
-Several initiatives to improve the access to capital for innovative sustainable small businesses are collaborating, both public funds (e.g. ROM InWest) and private funds (e.g. Rabobank)
The students and workers at the new cupola are all contributing to various global challenges, but if we have to pick three it would be:
Sustainable cities and communities
The former Cupola prison is the connection between the main city center and the other side of the Spaarne river, traditionally not so rich and attractive. The Panopticon Foundation, with the help of their partners Haarlem, created a new center for studying, living, discovering and creating which is an example for other historically developed differences in urban areas. Together, we provide hundreds of jobs and support the life long education of many, strengthening the economy of Haarlem.
The renovation of the building shows that it is possible to make a national monument highly sustainable while preserving the monumental values. The sustainability class has gone from “G” to “A+++”. The cupola is therefore also an example for other buildings of the future in terms of energy.
Supporting SME’s
Haarlem has many small or medium sized businesses. This group of entrepreneurs is particularly vulnerable. Research shows that they are unable to keep up with the developments of new (digital) technology, that they often fail to invest in hiring external expertise and that they have limited access to new talent with the right skills. Moreover, they are not prepared for new risks, such as cyber attacks. With Cupola XS we succeed to activate them to collaborate on these challenges.
Quality Education
Agreements have been made with school for an educational program aimed at the theme of inclusion and discrimination. An additional reason is the fact that Hannie Schaft, a well-known Dutch resistance heroine from Haarlem, stayed at the cupola prison before she was shot in the dunes. We have restored a prison cell to give students an insight into what it meant to be imprisoned here. And there is the educational program 'How Hannie are you?' to confront children with the nuances of heroism.
