Willem Hebly was born on 17 October 1908, in Rotterdam. At the end of 1934, he established himself in Aalten as an architect. Hebly was responsible for the design of a large number of homes, retail properties, commercial buildings, farms, and schools, and so forth, in Aalten and the surrounding area. Many of these buildings continue to enhance the streetscape today.
The architectural firm founded by Willem Hebly was dissolved in 1995. In early 2011, his son Just Hebly, successor to his father Willem and himself a retired architect, decided to entrust his architectural archive to the Erfgoedcentrum Achterhoek en Liemers (ECAL) in Doetinchem. He was requested to write a brief historical overview regarding this. Portions of this account are presented below:
Willem Hebly’s Establishment in Aalten
In 1934, Willem Hebly graduated as an architect from the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam. During those years of crisis, it was very difficult to establish oneself as an architect in Rotterdam, as existing firms strictly protected their market against newcomers.
One of Willem’s brothers,Gon Hebly, was in Aalten at the time as an employee of an accountancy firm, checking the books atDutch Button Works in Bredevoort. In a local newspaper he read at his hotel, he spotted an advertisement seeking a qualified architect in Aalten. He cut out the advertisement and took it home for his brother Willem.
After consulting his family and fiancée, Willem decided to travel to Aalten and report to the secretary of the Aalten contractors’ association at the time, Mr Vreeman on the Meiberg in Aalten. He was the one who had placed the advertisement. He was very surprised that an architect from Rotterdam had responded to an advertisement in a local Aalten newspaper. He explained that the advertisement had actually been a prank aimed at a former carpenter colleague who had recently begun calling himself an architect and was making good his shortcomings at the expense of his former contractor colleagues.
Willem was surprised by this information but did not let it discourage him. From a close acquaintance of his father, to whom he conveyed greetings, he received more information about Aalten. Indeed, there was no graduated architect in Aalten, while there were regular high-quality clients, particularly for better-quality housing in the private sector. Regarding the character of the people of the Achterhoek, he was informed that it differed considerably from that of Rotterdammers. However, once you had won the trust of the population, you could do no wrong in the eyes of the people of Aalten.
First Commission
Through this acquaintance, he was also given an address where he might initially take lodgings: Mrs Lammers, a widow, on Stationsstraat. He called on her immediately. Besides being able to rent a room with board and lodging, she also put him in touch withJan Ackerman, who had bought a plot of land next to her house on which he wanted to build a house with business premises. The day could hardly have ended better. Delighted, Willem returned home to his family and his fiancée, Lenie Bosman.
He did not have to think long about a final decision after receiving his first commission from Jan Ackerman to establish himself in Aalten as an architect. It became a very modern house by Aalten standards of the time, which has been a National Monument since 2002. Apparently, the design of Jan Ackerman’s home appealed to many residents of Aalten, given the many commissions that followed.
He soon also received a commission to build a house for Henk te Paske at Plein Zuid. Te Paske was a building-materials merchant and a friend of Jan Ackerman. Shortly afterwards, he also commissioned two pairs of semi-detached houses on Whemerstraat in Aalten. Willem was able to rent one of these houses (Whemerstraat 7). He married in 1936 and lived there until 1967, raising a family of nine children. In the early years, he used the largest bedroom as his office.
Reconstruction
After the years of economic crisis and war, there was plenty of work to be done, including a great deal of reconstruction of bomb-damaged houses and farms. The office soon became too small, so it was moved to the upper floor of a large house on Bredevoortsestraat, belonging to Mrs Manschot. Before long, the firm was providing work for three or four employees, including architectural draughtsmen and site supervisors.
Willem Hebly belonged to the era when the architect functioned as the pivot in the construction process. He therefore saw himself not only as the designing architect for his clients but also as their technical advisor and confidant in all matters concerning construction: following the design, the specifications with technical drawings, the cost estimation, the tendering process, the working drawings, the project management, and supervision of the execution.
In 1957, Willem’s eldest son, Just Hebly, joined the firm’s new office on Hofstraat in Aalten. After a year, Just left for Rotterdam to gain experience and continue his studies. After obtaining his higher technical college diploma, he did not yet feel ready to return to his father’s firm and instead joined the Nicolai architectural practice in Emmen.
Construction System for Schools
By the mid-1960s, there was plenty of work. The baby-boom generation born in 1946 was entering the workforce, and every town and village was working on expansion plans. Construction systems were being developed for both housing and schools. Willem Hebly had already achieved a good deal in the field of school construction in Aalten. These included the LTS, the HBS, designed in collaboration with the Geels architectural practice in Arnhem, and the lower agricultural school. The first and last of these schools have since been demolished. The latter was regarded as a flagship project by the Ministry of Agriculture and was visited by foreign guests brought from The Hague.
During that time, Willem Hebly came into contact with the Nuyt and Heikens architectural firm in Vlaardingen. They had developed a construction system for kindergartens and primary schools using the so-called Simplex element. This was an element made of aerated concrete, 60 cm wide and the height of a classroom. In 1964, both firms entered into a partnership under the name Buro Rationeel Bouwen, or BRB.
Soon Willem Hebly was entirely occupied by the activities of BRB. During that time, it was also decided to expand the existing architectural firm with a branch office in Beilen (Drenthe).
In the mid-sixties, Willem Hebly approached his son Just, who was enjoying his time in Emmen, with the request to become a partner in his architectural firm. After careful consultation within the family, the firm ‘Architectenbureau Wm en M.J. Hebly’ was established.
Son Just Joins the Firm
Just Hebly joined the firm as a partner in 1965, entering what some outsiders regarded as a ‘ready-made position’. In reality, he had to buy into the business at considerable cost, enabling Willem Hebly to fund his retirement. Willem also wanted to avoid disadvantaging his other eight children by favouring his eldest son. Just therefore had to work hard while studying in the evenings for his architect’s diploma. One of Just Hebly’s first designs was the house for his parents on Bonifaciusstraat in Aalten.
In 1972, Willem Hebly suffered a heart attack, resulting in Just Hebly taking over his activities in BRB as well.
At the end of the 1970s, the Bureau Rationeel Bouwen (BRB) was dissolved. During the course of the 1980s, employment in the construction industry continued to decline. The Hebly architectural firm moved from Aalten to Winterswijk in 1986. In the second half of the 1980s, employment in the construction world deteriorated even further. Redundancy procedures had to be initiated for a number of employees.
In the early 1990s, Just completed the remaining commissions on his own. Sixty years after its founding, the Hebly architectural firm closed its doors in 1995.
Willem Hebly passed away on 7 January 1996, at the age of 87. He and his wife are buried at Berkenhove cemetery in Aalten.