The Netherlands Embassy in Mozambique is located in Maputo. The building has been situated on the edges of a rectangular site and looks at an open garden surrounded by light columns and filled with flamboyant trees generating a natural roof. The embassy faces South, allowing light but not heat, as climatological considerations played a large part in the design.
The building and enclosing walls are conceived as a rough concrete monolith from which a part has been removed to create an opening and space for the garden. The embassy lies on the other side of the filigree steel frame of a veranda, a motif derived from the Portuguese colonial architecture.
The building consists of a rectangular volume with offices on the garden side, facilities in a central zone, and a two-storey circulation zone along the south wall. The rough concrete of the exterior recurs in the floor and roof, and a wooden box lies as an independent element.
Project Details:
Location: Maputo, Mozambique
Type: Governmental
Program: the chancellery for the Dutch embassy
Design: 1999
Completion: 2004
GFA: 2510 sqm
Client: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Architects: KAAN Architecten
Project Team: Valery Didelon, Sara Martin Camara, Kees Kaan, Patricia Medina Prieto, Hannes Ochmann, Vincent Panhuysen, Dikkie Scipio, Kim Sneyders, Sibil Strauli, Pasquale Talerico
Photos: Christian Richters
