biq stadsontwerp bv

biq stadsontwerp bv

The practice was founded in 1994 by Rick Wessels and Hans van der Heijden. Initially, the practice worked mostly on housing schemes. The workload has gradually expanded to offices, shops, medical and cultural buildings. In 1996 biq won the Europan-4 competition. In 2008, the Bluecoat arts centre in Liverpool (GB) was completed. This project received many awards and was nominated for the international Mies van der Rohe Award.



Hans van der Heijden

Hans van der Heijden (The Hague, *1963) is one of the founders of biq. In 1988 he graduated at TU Delft in 1988. His graduation project, a large scale urban redevelopment scheme, combined his interest for housing and his experience at the governmental building service and Mecanoo. He established biq in 1994 and is biq's design director. Van der Heijden writes about architecture and lectures and teaches. In 2008 he published the book 'Architectuur in de kapotte stad' (Architecture in the fractured city).

Hans van der Heijden opened his own office in Amsterdam in 2014.



Rick Wessels

Rick Wessels (Rotterdam, *1959) is one of the founders of biq. He graduated at TU Delft in 1988 investigating recycling and demolition of dwellings. During his study, Wessels worked at Bouwfonds and at the town council of Rotterdam. Since setting up biq in 1994 he has been the practice's managing director. His focus is on the internal organisation of the office and the process of projects. Wessels writes and lectures on topics of architecture and real estate management.

 

Fritz-Höger-Preis 2011 für Backstein-Architektur

2. Platz Gesamtsieger und Sieger in der Kategorie „Wohnungsbau, Geschosswohnungsbau“.