Page 79 - Between light and shade

Light, transparency and reflection

perforated sheet membranes
The metal sheets used in stainless steel mesh or
perforated sheets certainly enable visual and sun
protection screens to be created, but are, above
all, very effective as a windbreak.

This is how the metal deployed protects the
motorway service station 85 at Houten in the
Netherlands [01/363, Fig. 77], and the stainless
steel meshes adorn the shutters on the first floor
terrace of Castle Groenhof [Fig. 59] and protect
the platforms at Erasmus metro station [Fig. 72].

It was at “De Nul”, in 2001 that I discovered
the benefits of flat perforated sheet for the facade
of the ground floor car park and the glass canopy
ceiling of the entry awning [Fig. 23] and imme-
diately used it for the square terraces and the
renovation of social housing in Rue des Minimes,
close to the Brussels Law Courts [01/421, Fig. 78]
as well as Toren College, on the bank of the Lys
in Kortrijk (01/510; p: 2006-2015, c: 2016-2018).

It started to become a “structure” as I shaped
the sheet to surround the Fire Station in Char-
leroi and allowed it to extend onto the roof to
create a tall parapet [Fig. 37].

I gradually became aware of its structural
potential, in particular when designing the fire

85 As well as those at Orival (p: 1998, c: 2000-2001, 01/365) and
Hellebecq (p: 2000, c: 2001-2002, 01/385), and the “noses” of the
vaults covering the platforms at Leuven station (p: 1999-2001,
c: 2002-2008, 01/389).

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