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Former Police post
1916 / W.M. Dudok

Larenseweg 277a, Hilversum

490 / 5000

Vertaalresultaten

The striking barbershop at Larenseweg 277a was designed in 1916 by Willem Marinus Dudok (1884-1974), a newly appointed Director of Public Works. It is probably the first building designed by Dudok in the municipality of Hilversum. Originally it was a police post and was located on the Kerkbrink next to the then town hall of the municipality. In 1933, the entire building was moved to the Larenseweg. The building is a municipal monument.

The Amsterdam School

The building was built in an architectural style, which is characteristic of Dudok’s early work, related to the Amsterdam School. The former police post has one storey and was divided into a portal, toilet, police cell and waiting room. The facades of the building are built entirely of wood. Slanting horizontal planks have been used at the bottom, while standing planks have been used above. Above the entrance door, the eaves protrude forward, creating a canopy. The windows, eaves, awning and entrance are all equipped with decorative carvings. The colors green and yellow-brown are characteristic of the early buildings designed by Dudok. The red tile hipped roof contrasts nicely with this.

New destination

After the new town hall of Dudok was put into use in 1931, the municipality took care of the Kerkbrink, where the old town hall and the police post were located. The service buildings that had been taken into use due to the lack of space in the old town hall on the Kerkbrink, an old school and a gym, were to be demolished. According to the Gooi- en Eemlander, ‘a piece of Hilversum, which has a history of almost two centuries, would disappear due to the demolition of the old buildings’. The police post, however, was preserved, but was given a new destination on the Larenseweg (then called Laarderweg). The police post replaced the post at Kleine Drift, a small building designed by Dudok in 1919 in the Amsterdam School style. A barbershop has been located in the building since 1947, now the barbershop ‘Barbershop Hilversum’.