Route Huub Branderhorst - Altena Heritage

Huub Branderhorst (1943-2006) was well known in Genderen and the surrounding area. Starting as a craftsman, he grew through self-study into a gifted architect with a style all his own. Many houses and buildings, particularly in the eastern part of the Land of Heusden and Altena, bear his signature. Designs that were not everyday, but beautiful. He often stroked the hair of various committees on building standards who could not always stomach it when he came up with something special. Huub Branderhorst was therefore somewhat eccentric; he stood out not only as an architect, but also because of his striking appearance, his involvement with art, nature and heritage.

At an early age he devoted himself to heritage preservation. For example, he lived in Genderen in the farm at Meerhoek 25-27. At the end of the sixties the then municipality wanted to demolish the farm in the village to build housing for the elderly. For eight years Huub Branderhorst fought to preserve the farm, now a national monument. Huub Branderhorst continued to live there until his death.

Paul Martens from Andel wrote a book about Huub Branderhorst about his life and work; the author himself lives in one of Branderhorst's designs. A bicycle route has been set out along a selection of the most beautiful buildings especially for Open Monument Day 2025 with the theme 'Heritage & Architecture'.

Huub Branderhorst route (49 km)

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Drongelen

Gansoyen 33
This can rightly be called a futuristic house. Without doubt one of the most special designs of Huub. It was built on the spot where previously the village house stood. The structure consists of a number of forms. The facades of the main building are composed of white aerated concrete blocks with plastic roofing, black window frames, doors and windows yellow and horizontal glass blocks. With these colors, Huub wanted to emphasize the futuristic look. The black plinth gives the effect that the house is detached from the ground. As closed as the front is, the back is open.

Over time, there was a need for an expansion. Getting permission for this, had quite some difficulties. Eventually an underground extension was chosen. Residents from the village started giving the building names because of its design including 'The Ship' which name the residents also adopted.

Genderen

Meerhoek 25-27
A building with a long and special a history. Not designed by Huub. But thanks to him this national monument has been preserved. For years he had to fight for it. The municipality had very different plans for it. It wanted to build housing for the elderly. Huub did not like this and turned to heritage institutions and the national media. And, eventually with success. He was able to buy the farm, move in and restore it.

Toll 1
In November 1987 permission was granted to build this house. Huub was told by the client that it had to be possible to walk around the house. And on the side it had to be dry to be able to clean the windows when it rained. As an example served a house in Herpt, also designed by Huub. The house was built on 24 posts. Striking is a round window at the level of the attic.

Main street 28
Like many other villages, Genderen also had a Rabobank. Initially in an independent building, later as part of a residential care complex (WoZoco) designed by Huub. Client is Woonlinie. Client and architect have to work a lot on the original design before the permit is granted in June 2006. Huub has been dead for four months by then. The final plan consists of twelve apartments for assisted living, rooms for the supervisors and a branch of the Rabobank. The design has become Huub's posthumous nod to his T-farm on the Meerhoek.

Main Street 16
Where a carpentry shop once stood, this home was built to a design by Huub. He designed the house in February 1989. It is a comfortable house with a practical layout and lots of light. It has a striking three-plane roof.

Genderensedijk 13
For Aart Vos of the eponymous car company, Huub designed the interior of his car showroom in a former greenhouse complex. He also ensured optimal temperature management there by equipping the windows in the roof with a fully automatic opening and closing mechanism. The showroom has since made way for an occasion center for Citroën. Huub also designed the canopy of the gas station that was once here.

Wijk and Aalburg

Herrebeugel 45
A house with an unusual design and playful architecture. Construction began in 1978. The roof initially consisted of corrugated sheets. These have since been replaced by a copper roof. The interior consists of several levels. Huub drew inspiration for this house from the work of Bossche School architecture.

Gallery 15
On May 24, 1988, Kees Uittenhout receives a permit to build a design studio. An unusual building that has not had this function for a long time. It has been empty for years. One of the client's requirements was that not too much light should come in. Hence the small windows. The staircase had to give the feeling that if you pulled it up, you could drive right into the building like a kind of caravan. The building evoked quite a few, negative, reactions in the village. It was called the black box or the Boenderbajes after the then mayor Boender of Aalburg.

Gallery 2 and 4
A comprehensive project consisting of three stores and six apartments. It was an investment development project for Huub. He realized it with contractor Adriaan van Dongen from Dussen. He did this because nobody wanted it because of the too low return. Striking detail: the recurring iron profiles in front of the windows.

Violierstraat 15
A residential house licensed in 1974. The roof of the house is an equilateral triangle that recurs several times in the facade.

Uithof 3 to 17
In February 1998 Tankens Project Development from Andel receives a permit to build eight semi-detached houses. Huib signs for the design: farmhouses of the type that is characteristic for the Betuwe and is also common there. The houses have a thatched roof. The barn has the shape of a haystack. When designing, he was inspired by his own farm on the Meerhoek in Genderen.

Andel

Kerkstraat 21
A residential house for which planning permission was applied for in 1978 and completed in 1979. An extension, which was originally the bedding, did not go ahead. A striking feature of the property is a hole in the roof at the front containing a window almost four meters high which provides a beautiful light.
A chocolate factory was built next to the property in the early 1990s.

Abraham Kuyperstraat 27
A striking residential house for which a permit was granted in 2000. It consists of two parts with a middle section. Striking is the steel construction of the roof.

Abraham Kuyperstraat 31
This house at the Abraham Kuyperstraat is also designed by Huub. The clients wanted a house with a Mediterranean look. It took quite some effort to get his design through the standards committee. Therefore the house was designed a bit tighter than he intended. The back of the house has a lot of glass surface which combined makes it look very spacious and light. The current owner made the house white. Huub took inspiration for this design from the Vanna Venturi house in Philadelphia.

Rijswijk

Maasdijk 1a
Next to the property Maasdijk1 which was once a café with a dwelling house, stood a barn. In 2002 the municipality granted permission to demolish the barn and turn it into a residential house. It is a house with special elements, Since 2003 it has been inhabited. The current residents have modified parts of the property while maintaining its original character.

Woudrichem

Salmon Street 5, 7 and 9
Huub called these structure houses that were completed around 1980. All three houses originally had tuning forks as the supporting structure. This was with the intention of expanding the houses by tuning fork. Which is what happened. The first floor has two pillars and then it goes to three. At the building with house number 5, the tuning forks can still be seen. The houses have been heavily remodeled in recent years.

Hoogstraat 42
This was once a store, a branch of the VIVO, formerly a well-known national food chain. Like many other stores in the fortified town, it closed. In 2000, Almbouw B.V. of Rijswijk received permission to turn it into a residential house. It has become a striking plastered building in the monumental Hoogstraat. Also striking is the round window in the roof whose lower parts open inwards.

Burgemeester van der Lelystraat 136
The clients for this house, completed in 2000, wanted a house that was not average and came to Huub for the design. Someone who thought "out of the box". It took some time before a building plan got municipal approval. That was the case with many of Huub's plans, by the way. Later the building was extended with a conservatory.

Dussen

Groot Zuideveld 1
A residential house with garage completed around 1980. It was a complicated work. The construction consists mainly of pressure discharged directly or through another construction part. When construction was completed it attracted many interested parties, even from abroad.