The city of Oostkamp acquired the premises of the former Coca-Cola factory, a 40.000 m2 piece of land with an 11.000 m2 industrial shed built in 1991.
The competition brief required a building complex that could gather most of the public services of the city on this central and well-connected plot, in an arrangement to be called OostCampus.
The competition brief required a building complex that could gather most of the public services of the city on this central and well-connected plot, in an arrangement to be called OostCampus.
We decided to reuse the spacious industrial shed; not just to recycle materials like the steel, but to reuse the space itself, it's foundations, enclosure, services, access, and all the "invisible" parts; and to turn it into a luminous landscape of clouds; a sheltered public space within a controlled weather environment.
The starting point for our proposal is an uncompromising reciclage of the existing industrial building, including foundations, bearing structure, outer skin, waterproofing, as much of the services installations and equipment as possible, electric power station, heating plant, water ducts, fire hoses, drainage and even parking space, fencing and accesses.
It is not uncommon to underestimate the value of all these "invisible" parts of a building. This is combined with a far-reaching transformation of the interior.
Shell structures have been used for almost one hundred years now. It is very easy to build them as a very thin layer; in our case they will be in GRG, only a few millimetres thick in the highest points, weighing a mere 7 kg/m2.
Building them within the weatherproof industrial shed simplifies the demands. Inflatable formwork simplifies the building process. It creates a fascinating landscape for very little energy.
A luminous landscape of white clouds is created into the existing building, offering a large sheltered area where a set of modular clusters may be arranged.
The openings among the clouds are equipped with simple devices that transform all kinds of weather conditions into wonderful events.
The strong winds of the outside are transformed into electricity that feeds a disc of leds, an artificial sun that will bring joy to, for instance, wedding days.
The reuse of the existing is a basic criterion of sustainability. The “gray energy” (energy used for the production of something) is often discarded or simply ignored.
If we demolish an existing structure and build again, we will use more energy and resources than the most efficient of buildings can of save in its life span.
Images of the project:
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