Since 2001, the centre of Zaanstad has been transformed to agree with the style of the nearby UNESCO World Heritage site the Zaanse Schans. Architectural highlights of this requirement include the city hall in shape of oversized Zaan houses and the Inntel hotel, which appears as a large stack of the same green houses.

The new Cultural Cluster is the next step in this urban plan. The question was raised of how to continue the Zaan style given these existing variations of the traditional house, and also how to secure a clear identity for each of the established cultural institutions within the larger envelope of a single building.

The Zaan Living Room is a lively public meeting space that starts on the square and offers access to all levels of the new building. In addition to a large number of program-specific spaces (film halls, music rooms, creative labs, workshops and dance studios) the building will also features a number of flexible working spaces.

The new Cultural Cluster sits on a raised pedestrian square, underneath which a bicycle parking lot and underground road will be located. The entrance to this bicycle parking is, like the building's other voids, designed as - silhouette of a Zaan house. From the raised square, a bicycle path leads down to street level.

The building combines is a mixture of various sustainable technologies and a compact design to reach the highest energy efficiency possible for it's mix of programs. The Municipality's ambition is that the building also becomes a model of best practice in maintenance practices, life-cycle costs, financial management and social security. Acoustically it will be world class to match it's focus on performing arts.