aasa12012: Belgium

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lunedì 10 dicembre 2012

HUIS AAN ‘T LAAR BY 51N4E

The non-profit organization Monnikenheide has become a laboratory for healthcare architecture in Belgium during the last decade. It is located in a small forest in Zoersel, a municipality in the province of Antwerp.

Monnikenheide offers services to people with a mental disability and their families. On the terrain, an outpatients’ clinic was established, together with a short stay home, and a home for people who need constant guidance during their dwelling.

In 2009, because of the growing need for new residences, Monnikenheide decided to build a new home. After a small competition, the Brussels office 51N4E was asked to build the ‘Huis aan ’t Laar’ (‘House at the open space in the forest’) – a residential project with 16 studio flats for (young) adults with an intellectual disability. The clients live in this house day and night, and they are part of a group of eight members. Each group has one companion.

The first design decision by 51N4E was to accommodate these two groups in one building – a decision that is not evident, and that is mostly avoided by reverting to the construction of different pavilions. For practical and psychological reasons, it is better for these clients not to have contact on a daily basis with more than eight other individuals.

Therefore, the ‘Huis aan ’t Laar’ consists, in a certain sense, out of two identical houses. Nevertheless, the building does nowhere show its double nature, except in the remarkable split stairway, which cuts like a scissor through the heart of the house.

These flights of stairs are at the beginning of two separate routes, connecting eight individual rooms, a bathroom, a washhouse and a living room with a kitchen, leading outdoors to the garden. At some places, like in the studio flat of the companions, the two circuits meet.

The combining of the two groups and their spaces results in a compact building, consisting of three stories and a cellar. It functions perfectly, although it never simply shows its own nature or structure.On the outskirts of a village, in a beautiful dense tree-scape, stands a dark solitary volume clad in burnt larch.

The irregularity of the plan is as much a response to preserving the landscape as to the building’s internal demands: the design decision to include a corner and two windows in every room. The resulting layout ensures that each room has differentiated areas for sleeping and living, and a double light condition.

The design aims at multiplying opportunities for inhabitants to appropriate space and relate more profoundly to their immediate and larger context. Belonging to the campus as much as to the village, this calm, sober structure challenges institutional clichés associated with health care architecture.

Location: Zoersel, Belgium

Architect: 51N4E

Project team: Johan Anrys, Freek Persyn, Peter Swinnen, Karel Verstraeten, Jan Opdekamp, Paul Steinbrück, Marian Beschoner

Consultants: Daidalos-Peutz (durability), IVW (safety & EPB)

Structural engineer: BAS/ Dirk Jaspaert, All-Ingineering

Technical engineer: Henk Pijpaert

Site surface: 4800 m²

Built surface: 1320 m²

Construction cost (excl VAT): 1180000 €

Invited competition: 2009

Completion: 2012

Client: Vzw Monnikenheide

Photography: Filip Dujardin

venerdì 23 novembre 2012

THE TREE HOUSE BY BAUMRAUM

Sappi, The Flemish Forest and Nature Agency, the commune of Hechtel-Eksel and Proximity joined forces in a unique partnership to stimulate companies, politicians and organisations to embrace sustainability in their daily activities.

According to the international paper producer Sappi, which started the project with Proximity BBDO, their communications agency, a treehouse would make their sustainability efforts more tangible, more real, and a true source of inspiration for others to follow.

The Flemish Forest and Nature Agency and the commune of Hechtel-Eksel, were quickly sold on the idea to create this project on their premises and enthusiastically embraced the concept. All with one vision: environmental quality and social responsibility for the benefit of people, planet and prosperity.

The Treehouse is the ideal place to hold break-out sessions where businesses can brainstorm about the importance sustainability to their company and ways they can improve to build a better future for the planet. It is the perfect location for scientific research and relevant presentations.

The major image of the design is a sheet of paper that is pleated and encloses both interior and exterior spaces. The Treehouse is based on five elements: two cabins on different levels, connecting terraces, a staircase and a connecting roof.

The cabins

In the lower cabin is a coffee lounge, pantry, restroom and technology room. The upper room is dedicated to meetings and other events that are appropriate to this exquisite space among the trees. Benches covered with soft pillows surround the space resulting in a comfortable and laid-back feeling, encouraging one to stay longer.

Construction
The cabins and upper terraces rest on 19 angled steel stilts. Each steel stilt is connected to the ground below with foundation screws that have a minimal impact on the forest floor.

Heating and lighting

All equipments use the existing supplies (green electricity and water purification) of the nearby museum or are selfsufficiently (heat pump). The newest techniques are used for the heating and cooling system. A heat pump unit which is situated in an underground space, extracts heat from the air.

The warmth is transported through tubes which are led through one of the steel columns into the cabines. After converting the warmth to a fluid, tubes will transport it to the heating-units under the benches. The result of this low temperature heating system is a nice, comfortable climate and the energy cost remains very low. In summertime the system can be used for cooling as well. This system is CO2 neutral.

The balanced ventilation system is totally demand-based with supply and abstract units integrated in the benches. The ventilation and heating systems are continuously monitored. To minimize the energy consumption, all lights are LED. In the toilet, daylight- and movement-sensors are integrated in the LED armatures.

sabato 3 novembre 2012

BOEKENBERG PARK BY OMGEVING

Working in a historical context, of the continental Europe where the architecture of the past is still very much present, architects are often faced with the question of whether they should restore the physical or rehabilitate the conceptual.

This question came to the fore in response to the combined decision of the city of Antwerp and the heritage committee to rehabilitate the historical Boekenberg Park in Deurne. Within the framework of a public-private partnership, the office OMGEVING was appointed to give shape to the new ambitions of the city.

Based on historical analysis of the site, architects and landscape designers have proposed to approach the new development within the conceptual framework of 18th century English Garden.

The concept was to bring the visitor to the already narrated and carefully arranged romantic natural setting and to confront him with emotionally charged dramatic “events.”

Therefore the degenerated landscape had to be brought to its ideal form and 20th century concrete pool, transformed into a forest pond merging gently into its surroundings.

Keeping in mind that the water quality must correspond with the current health and safety regulations, it was proposed to use an ecological water treatment technology which in turn allowed for a new aquatic ecosystem to be created.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the water three pavilions emerge. Designed as a group of independent artifacts, their forms evoke images of the dramatic rock formations seen in 18th century paintings of Hans Gude or Peter Balke.

The gaps between them, like chasms between cliffs, gently frame the views of the old woods on the opposite side of the water. This creative reinterpretation of the history allowed the architects to take action whilst maintaining respect for a site’s history, catering to the modern standards of comfort and sustainability.

Location: Deurne, Belgium

Architects: OMGEVING

Location: Deurne, Belgium

Year: 2012

Photographs: Courtesy of OMGEVING

source: Archdaily

martedì 23 ottobre 2012

PORT HOUSE BY ZAHA HADID

The Official Ceremony has been held to start the construction work on Port House, the new headquarters for Antwerp Port Authority on the Kattendijk dock. The new Antwerp Port Authority headquarters will house approximately 500 staff (currently working in separate buildings) in a single new location that comprises a former fire station and the new extension.

The design team from Zaha Hadid Architects proposed a very dynamic architecture that strikes up a dialogue with the Oosterweel road link, with the Lange Wapper bridge forming a backdrop to the New Port House. With its unique design, its facade architecture and its height of 46 metres, the new Port Authority will be an iconic building, visible from many different directions.

The concept is a free interpretation of a beam-shaped volume raised above the existing fire brigade building and supported on three sculptured concrete pillars housing the stairs and lifts. Two of the pillars are situated on the covered inner courtyard of the firehouse, while the third is located beside an external support point and consists of a panoramic lift shaft.

The new volume is oriented North-South parallel to the Kattendijk dock. The head of the building on the South side is a frame that looks towards the city and clearly marks the start of the port area. The outside walls are made up of glass triangles, some transparent and some reflecting. These do not all lie in the same plane but are rotated slightly with respect to one another, creating an attractive reflecting play of incoming light in a reference to Antwerp’s diamond industry.

The present firehouse will be kept free of building all around, so that the four outside walls will be fully respected. As for the arrangement of the inside spaces, consultations will be held with Flanders Real Estate Heritage and the Monuments department of the City of Antwerp to determine whether open-plan offices (as laid down in the schedule of requirements) are possible, either partly of throughout.

The inner courtyard will be roofed over at the height of the second story so as to create an air-conditioned inside space. This central entrance hall will be considered as a semi-public space, with various enquiry desks (Personnel department, Harbourmaster’s Office, Planning Permission & Environment Permit office and Port Dues payment desk) integrated in the inside wall portals.

A sculptural, sloping roof unites an underground lobby with the covered inner court. Access to the underground car park is an important aspect of the overall concept, with the loading & unloading bays and the refuse handling facilities also located here. The car park has space for 300 or so cars and consists of a single underground level.

The design of the square can be arranged so that daylight is allowed to enter. The above-ground layout forms part of a design project that is being carried out in consultation with the city departments responsible, with the main imperative being to “preserve the visual quality of the outside spaces in the Het Eilandje area.