Eek en Dekkers Strip a Nijmegen Water Tower to Its Concrete Frame and Wrap It in a Thin New Skin

On the industrial west side of Nijmegen, where the De Oversteek bridge touches down, the former NYMA artificial-silk mill is being turned into a makers' quarter. Much of the old complex has already been demolished. A few buildings were kept, and the most visible of them is the water tower, a municipal monument that Eek en Dekkers, the practice of Iggie Dekkers and Piet Hein Eek, has converted into roughly 800 m² of hospitality and flexible space. The tower and the neighbouring Fabriek AB hall were completed in spring 2025 as the first phase. Later that year the tower won the Watertorenprijs 2025.

What makes the project worth studying is how much the architects were willing to take away. The masonry and plaster walls had deteriorated too far to save, so they came down. Only the concrete skeleton remained. That frame was repaired, and a new façade was built behind it, kept as thin as possible so the circular floors could give up very little space to the wall. The result keeps the outline of the original tower and reads as a monument, yet most of its fabric is new. You can argue about what preservation means here, but you cannot argue that it lacks a clear position.

A Landmark at the Bridgehead

Seen from the meadow or from the new square, the tower does the job it always did: it marks the site. The NYMA lettering is still at the top, and the cylinder rises clear of the low glazed hall at its base. Industrial water towers were never designed as public buildings, but their height and their isolation make them landmarks anyway. Eek en Dekkers treat that inherited presence as the main asset of the site and leave it alone.

The surroundings are deliberately rough. There are wildflowers, a paved square with planted beds, wind turbines on the horizon and a yellow picnic table. Nothing has been made precious. This suits a site intended for makers rather than for heritage tourism, and the tower gains from sitting in a working landscape instead of a manicured plaza.

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