Dr Paul Meurs (1963), trained as an architect, is a director of SteenhuisMeurs, a consultancy in the field of cultural heritage, which he leads together with his co-director Marinke Steenhuis. The office carries out research into buildings, areas and landscapes - with the objective of identifying the existing quality and establishing principles or frameworks for appropriate adaptation. For several years the office also worked on the nomination of the Dutch-Belgian Colonies of Benevolence for the World Heritage List.
Principals of SteenhuisMeurs are municipalities, housing corporations, project developers, heritage authorities and design bureaus. Meurs works as a consultant and supervisor for municipalities, housing corporations, project developers and design bureaus at home and abroad (Brazil and India). He was a Professor of Heritage and Culture Value at the Faculty of Architecture of Delft University of Technology (2006-2016) and is a member of the quality team Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (New Dutch Waterline), a consultant of the Supervisory Board of redevelopment agency BOEi, and a member of the supervisory team Strijp R (Eindhoven).
Dr Marinke Steenhuis (1971), trained as an architectural historian, combines the domains of cultural history, landscape and mentality into vision development, making her a typical cross-over figure. The office functions as a mediator and translator between the domains of history, landscape, heritage and spatial design. Steenhuis-Meurs is embedded in the (inter)national field of heritage and spatial development.
The office has carried out research into more than 250 buildings, urban areas and landscapes, providing the frameworks for further development. Marinke's activities include advising the Rotterdam Municipal Executive Board on the question of how to reinforce the branding of the city through real estate and heritage, cultural heritage values and zoning plans. Through her work in different quality teams, she also formulates the arguments at the "other end of the table".
Until 2014, Marinke was a member of the first Adaptive Reuse Team under Housing Minister Stef Blok, she is a member of the Quality Team Afsluitdijk and of the Assessment Committee Adaptive Reuse Soestdijk Palace. Jean-Paul Corten (1963) obtained his degree in history at Utrecht University, after which he studied town planning. He started his career as a researcher in the history of technology at Eindhoven University.
Currently he is employed as senior policy officer in heritage conservation at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and is lecturing at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Erasmus University of Rotterdam. He is involved in many urban regeneration projects abroad. Frank Strolenberg (1957) studied Mass Communications at Radboud University Nijmegen. For over 25 years he has been addressing the question of how heritage can be of significance for the here-and-now.
He dealt with this subject when he was the business manager of the Dutch archaeological department and also as programme manager Belvedere, where the concept of "conservation through development" was coined. Since 2010 he has been an active promoter of adaptive reuse of monumental real estate. For this purpose he has established, through the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, a number of national partnerships, and is co-author of the book Rekenen op herbestemming ; Idee, aanpak en cijfer van en 25 + 1 gerealiseerde projecten (Counting on Adaptive Reuse ; idea, approach and figures concerning 25 + 1 completed projects).
Since he considers the transfer of knowledge to a new generation to be of the utmost importance, he has generated various educational initiatives such as the Heritage Academy (Erfgoed Academic), and is currently working on the knowledge agenda of the Cultural Heritage Agency. Through his own company, Frankenvrij.net, he supports museums and local and regional authorities in processes of concept and policy development.
Sander Gelinck (1968) has been involved in innovations in real estate and area development for more than 20 years. He advises on adaptive reuse based on the conviction that nothing is more satisfying than working on new responses to social needs. Such responses automatically follow where concept, approach and arithmetic reinforce each other. Gelinck spent 10 years working at SEV (Foundation Housing Experiments Steering Group, Rotterdam), before he set out as an independent consultant and project manager.
He works from his own company, id&dn, is a partner in the Transformation Team of cooperating adaptive reuse experts and a member of the National Expert Team Office Transformations.
