Sparc was started by Hans Maarten Wikkerink after 15 years of experience in the construction industry. He is a registered architect in New York State and in the Netherlands and a member of the American Institute of Architects. His Master of Science in Architecture came from the prestigious Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam. Besides architecture, he studied Art and Architectural History at the University of Amsterdam.
In the past 20 years, Hans Maarten has led several multidisciplinary teams to manage often complex adaptive reuse projects, from converting school buildings and office buildings into cultural centers to renovating precious landmarked buildings. Among other projects in The Netherlands, he led a design team for a 60-unit cooperative building, ensuring effective communication among all parties involved. In New York City he successfully managed and led a team for three major projects in the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. His focus in the last few years has been gut renovations of townhouses and small to mid-sized ground-up apartment buildings.
Working in New York City’s challenging context in the past decade has made him an expert in the city’s building code and zoning resolution, proven by many plan approvals in different leadership roles.
Hans Maarten has won several awards like the ‘Geurt Bevink Bokaal’ award from the city of Amsterdam for best adaptive reuse project. He was a nominee of the prestigious Dutch Archiprix, runner-up in the international Unbuild Housing Awards, and received an honorable mention in the New York City Affordable Housing Challenge.
Before becoming an architect, Hans Maarten founded Studio/K, a multi-venue theater and cinema complex in Amsterdam, which has been a staple venue in Amsterdam’s arthouse movie scene ever since.
“I enjoy building houses. As a child, I built small structures in the yard. In my professional life, this slowly evolved into a career in the field of architecture. I can't help but fantasize constantly about the most ideal way of living for people. This happens to me when I visit someone’s home, but also when I walk around in the city.
As a professional, I have developed a delicate sense of atmosphere: atmosphere as the result of a pleasant social environment, atmosphere as the result of good spatial organization and design, and atmosphere as the result of beautiful materials, composition, and imagery. I love the everyday and ordinary and I am always looking for the secret behind why the details of buildings work or not.
I am interested in the full spectrum of the architecture profession, from regulations and policies to the nuts and bolts of how something is made. As far as I'm concerned, excellence lies in the details.
Often rightfully portrayed as one of the main drivers of the current climate problems, I believe the built environment can and should play a crucial role in reversing the course and becoming a part of the solution. Great and mindful design can do this.
Although I do consider myself part of the cultural elite and avant-garde, I feel most at home where innovation needs to be translated into everyday use. My work celebrates the mundane and ordinary and tries to uncover the hidden beauty of everyday life”