Powerwall
Powerwall is a new architectural artwork at Switchstation Beverwijk in the Netherlands, designed by Studio RAP in close collaboration with the building's architect, Powerhouse Company. Conceived together as a bespoke façade-mounted ceramic surface for one of the country's high-voltage transformer stations, the project translates the invisible electromagnetic forces humming inside the building into a tactile, three-dimensional relief. By combining algorithmic design, 3D clay printing, and artisanal glazing, Powerwall transforms a piece of essential infrastructure into a work of architectural innovation, redefining its identity and providing a lasting contribution to the surrounding neighborhood.
The design
A transformer station is a closed, utilitarian building that quietly carries a region's electricity, and usually sits in a neighbourhood as an anonymous volume. Powerwall adds a ceramic surface to that structure, turning a blank façade into an artwork that reflects the energy humming within.
Spanning eight by five metres and integrated into the brick façade of Switchstation Beverwijk (designed by Powerhouse Company for grid operator TenneT), the artwork takes its cue from the forces it conceals. The flow lines of the transformers' electromagnetic fields become the design vocabulary: sweeping spirals and flowing lines move across the surface, organised by algorithm into a composition that feels both static and in motion. A translucent turquoise glaze shifts with the daylight, so the artwork reads differently at every moment of the day. Rather than hiding the building's function, the façade illustrates it, a portrait of electricity rendered in ceramic.
3D-printed ceramics
Powerwall is made of 322 unique 3D-printed ceramic tiles. Each tile is first shaped by Studio RAP's computational design algorithms, which translate the magnetic-field geometry into buildable forms, and then produced by a robotic clay printer in the studio's Rotterdam workshop. The print layers are deliberately tuned to create a subtle ribbed texture that amplifies the 3D-printing effect, giving each piece its own rhythm and recording the robot's path in the clay.
A translucent turquoise glaze, applied across the whole surface, settles into the printed grooves and pools in the recessed areas. Ceramics shrink and warp during firing, so the final piece is never an exact replica of the digital model but an organic, characterful element; the glaze accentuates the depth of the relief and the meeting of digital logic and ceramic craft. Every panel and tolerance was engineered to accommodate the behaviour of the fired clay before the elements were assembled into the brick façade on site.
About Studio RAP
Studio RAP is a Rotterdam-based team of architects that combines architecture with in-house manufacturing and craftsmanship, bringing bespoke detail back into architectural design. Because every tile is generated by an algorithm and produced by a robot, ornamentation can again be specific to a place. Powerwall is one expression of that approach.
Location: Beverwijk (NL)
Year: 2026
Client: TenneT
Netherlands Architect, Switchstation Beverwijk: Powerhouse Company
Artwork design & 3D ceramic printing: Studio RAP
Construction: JP van Eesteren, Mobil
The design
A transformer station is a closed, utilitarian building that quietly carries a region's electricity, and usually sits in a neighbourhood as an anonymous volume. Powerwall adds a ceramic surface to that structure, turning a blank façade into an artwork that reflects the energy humming within.
Spanning eight by five metres and integrated into the brick façade of Switchstation Beverwijk (designed by Powerhouse Company for grid operator TenneT), the artwork takes its cue from the forces it conceals. The flow lines of the transformers' electromagnetic fields become the design vocabulary: sweeping spirals and flowing lines move across the surface, organised by algorithm into a composition that feels both static and in motion. A translucent turquoise glaze shifts with the daylight, so the artwork reads differently at every moment of the day. Rather than hiding the building's function, the façade illustrates it, a portrait of electricity rendered in ceramic.
3D-printed ceramics
Powerwall is made of 322 unique 3D-printed ceramic tiles. Each tile is first shaped by Studio RAP's computational design algorithms, which translate the magnetic-field geometry into buildable forms, and then produced by a robotic clay printer in the studio's Rotterdam workshop. The print layers are deliberately tuned to create a subtle ribbed texture that amplifies the 3D-printing effect, giving each piece its own rhythm and recording the robot's path in the clay.
A translucent turquoise glaze, applied across the whole surface, settles into the printed grooves and pools in the recessed areas. Ceramics shrink and warp during firing, so the final piece is never an exact replica of the digital model but an organic, characterful element; the glaze accentuates the depth of the relief and the meeting of digital logic and ceramic craft. Every panel and tolerance was engineered to accommodate the behaviour of the fired clay before the elements were assembled into the brick façade on site.
About Studio RAP
Studio RAP is a Rotterdam-based team of architects that combines architecture with in-house manufacturing and craftsmanship, bringing bespoke detail back into architectural design. Because every tile is generated by an algorithm and produced by a robot, ornamentation can again be specific to a place. Powerwall is one expression of that approach.
Location: Beverwijk (NL)
Year: 2026
Client: TenneT
Netherlands Architect, Switchstation Beverwijk: Powerhouse Company
Artwork design & 3D ceramic printing: Studio RAP
Construction: JP van Eesteren, Mobil