page_title: Glaspaleis
section_title: Penthouse and basement
hierarchical_section_title: Glaspaleis / Architecture / Penthouse and basement
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph by Dirk van der Made A piece of art at an exposition in the basement of the Glaspaleis
context_page_description: The Glaspaleis is a modernist building in Heerlen, Netherlands, built in 1935. Formerly a fashion house and department store, Schunck, it is now the cultural centre of the city. The original name was Modehuis Schunck, but it was soon nicknamed Glaspaleis, which is now the official name.
  The architectural style is largely according to what is in the Netherlands known as het Nieuwe Bouwen, which corresponds roughly to Modernism, Bauhaus and International style. The visually most distinguishing aspect is the free-standing glass that covers three sides, which makes it even more transparent than the famous Bauhaus building in Dessau and is part of the natural climate control.
  In 1995, it was declared a National Monument for the purpose of historic preservation
  In 1999, it was put on the list of the 1000 most important buildings of the 20th century by the International Union of Architects during their World Congress in Beijing.
  In 2004, it won the first Bouwfonds Award in the category 'Vital Monuments'.
  In 2005, it won the Nederlandse Bouwprijs in the 'Projects' category.
  In 2005, it also won the Nationale Renovatieprijs in the 'Utiliteitsbouw' category.
context_section_description: The two penthouse levels, which are somewhat smaller in surface than the other floors, thus creating a balcony, have a terrace each on the west side, with the lower level protected against the prevailing winds at the northwest side by a glass screen, and above that is an accessible uncovered roof top, the so-called daktuin (roof garden), a name that was used for the penthouse as a whole. This rooftop platform extends over the second level terrace, thus covering it. The lower terrace is now a restaurant, which it also was in summer when the Schunck family lived there. The second penthouse level and roof top are not accessible to the public. Nor is the second (lower) basement. Because the basement slab had to be placed at the considerable depth of 6.5 m, in places there are three basement levels. The basements were used for machinery, storage and workshops. The centre of the first basement was a sales area, the part that is now accessible to the public.
  Peter Schunck compared the structure of the building with a ship, floating on uncertain ground. The foundation is basically a concrete trough, that can 'give a little' if any mining shafts were to be dug under it. This 'ship' would then never be able to capsize. During construction, the moat of the old Roman settlement Coriovallum was uncovered, which was the reason to lay the foundation deeper than originally planned. Inside the old walls the subsoil was firm, but outside them it was very bad. Building such a structure on such ground in a mining area was deemed too risky and the ground was cleared until a single layer of equal overall weakness was encountered, a 12 m thick sand layer. This sand is generally considered a bad foundation soil, but in a mining area it is a good choice because it flows and 'gives' evenly in case of a cave-in in a mine below it. Still, Peutz decided that the soil pressure should not exceed 1 kgf/cm² (100 kPa). So for the foundation he used a reinforced concrete slab extending under the whole building. This 50 cm thick beamless foundation slab is mushroom-shaped.
  The maximum load is 500 kg/m² for the floors and stairs and 1000 kg/m² for the dispatch area. A maximum wind pressure of 150 kgf/m² was allowed for. A reduction in the column load was not incorporated.
caption: A glassart exposition in the basement.
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