Photo: www.gooienvechthistorisch.nl (SAGV032.2)
Former KRO-studiocomplex
1936-1938 / W.A. Maas
Emmastraat 50-52, Hilversum
The Catholic Radio Broadcasting Company (KRO) was founded in 1926. In 1930 the KRO moved from Amsterdam to Hilversum. The broadcaster established itself in the former Roman Catholic Vereenigingsgebouw in the adjacent villa on Emmastraat. On the site of the villa and an adjacent site, the KRO had a new studio complex built, designed by the Utrecht architect W.A. Mesh. The studio was inaugurated in 1938. The original volume on the styrate side houses downstairs: the entrance, the hall, the boardroom and some technical rooms. Upstairs were several small studios. Behind this block was an open courtyard with a statue of the Virgin Mary. From that point on, the underlying buildings are placed obliquely.
In 1954 a new wing was built to the left of the entrance building in the style of the original complex. At the end of the 1970s, a much larger volume in two layers arose on the site of the foyer next to the concert hall. Architect Maas worked closely with artists during the construction, whom he knew from the Catholic magazine ‘De Gemeenschap’.
Source: Annette Koenders, Hilversum. Architectuur en Stedenbouw 1850-1940, Zwolle (2001).
Architect
Period
Location
Emmastraat 50-52, Hilversum