Page 58 - Tussen binnenstad en spoor - Leuven 2003

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The tunnelling and revamping of the Martelaren-
plein, the adjoining car park and connection with
the train tracks and the construction of the bus ter-
minal for De Lijn are the successful results of a
patient process between many partners, headed
by the Urban Project Team and Manuel de Solà-
Morales 3. This Barcelona-based architect had
made an international name for himself with a
number of highly complex urban operations
including the restructuring of the “Passeig del
Moll de la Fusta“ in Barcelona (1983-’87).
Solà-Morales’ approach to complicated urban
development tasks is internationally appreciated –
a design strategy where the concrete feasibility
always takes priority. He was the right figure to
give this complicated problem shape. The tunnel
was built in cooperation with the architectural firm
Studiebureau S.W.K. The building for De Lijn was
erected in cooperation with Atelier 33.
The works on the tunnel between the Tiense and
Diestse Vest started in 1998. The project com-
prised a City parking facility with 388 places, a car
park comprising two floors. It is no traditional
underground car park, no anonymous “black
box.” This car park was designed with extreme
precision to achieve a high quality end result. The
designers attached much importance in having
both daylight and the right measure of artificial
light in the car park. First, it had to be a quality
public space that was pleasant to enter. It is a car
park with a surprising spatial quality, by far the
most beautiful parking facility built in Belgium in
recent years. By situating the entrance of the car
park at level – 2 in the tunnel, and the existing dif- Community as a matter of policy. A new building
ference in height of about eight metres between
the station and the Provincial Government
Building, the length of the tunnel trench on the
Tiensevest side was extended substantially, and
the boulevard was definitively divided into two
street sides – a break in the urban fabric.
The government set the example in Leuven. The
tunnel, car park, layout of the square and the bus
station with the accompanying offices for De Lijn
are the initial results of this ambitious urban
project. Other large-scale actions have been car-
ried out or will get underway soon: the new
Provincial Government Building of Flemish
Brabant and the new Flemish Administrative
Centre (FAC). They even form the two end poles
of the current development of the project round
the station on the Leuven side.
The young Province of Flemish Brabant with
Leuven as its centre opted for a location on the
Tiensevest. In 1998, an international competition
was held, won by the Portuguese architect
Gonçalo Byrne in cooperation with the WIT Group
and the engineer Dirk Jaspaert. The volumetric
analysis in the urban design and the SPS was
fixed: a tower structure as the visual delimitation
on the south side of the development area. The
design has a clear composition, a vertical and hori- acclaimed and published 4. Samyn has distin-
zontal building mass. The complex is to be inau-
gurated in the spring of 2003.
The Flemish Community took the important deci-
sion to establish the VAC near the station, as had
been done in Hasselt. In 2000, a competition was
held and in October 2002, the firm of Zenghelis &
Gigantes was chosen. This building on the north
side is given a vertical tower volume and forms a
visual relation with the Provincial Government
Building.
That important private companies wanted to
follow the government’s example was pending,
and in fact it was encouraged by the Flemish
directly connected to the public transport network
is the answer to the mobility problem.
__ CHOICE OF ARCHITECT
It is often forgotten that interesting building can
only come into being thanks to ambitious clients.
The world “building owner” is here more appro-
priate, because building on a heritage is more
than placing an order; the enthusiasm is geared to
erecting something special that goes farther than
producing buildings as an investment operation.
The ambition of the client is not only to erect a
beautiful building; this building must also be an
example of an ecological and low-energy
approach. A project where durability is of pivotal
importance. The client set high standards and
went looking for an architect who could provide
the right answer to a complex programme of
requirements, bring renovation to an area of office
buildings, and who had a team for supervising
such a large scale project in optimal manner.
After a round of consultations, he decided to go
with the architectural firm of Samyn and Partners,
in a temporary association with ARCHI+I.
Philippe Samyn has produced enthralling work in
recent years, that has been internationally
guished himself in particular in office buildings
with a series of exceptional structures. Already in
the 1980s, he would concentrate on buildings with
a double façade structure: the concept of the
double skin with both energy-saving and architec-
tonic possibilities, the introduction of the double
skin as an ecological solution. Samyn created the
first building in Belgium with this principle, i.e. the
Brussimmo office complex in the Leopoldswijk in
Brussels (1989-1993) 5. He worked out the double
skin concept further in the Dupuis office building
in Marcinelle (1993-1995). The concept of an elon-
gated office building, where the office part is
alternately combined with an interior atrium, pro-
vides an extremely clear structure with a sur-
prising spatial experience. This building can be
considered as a prototype that he would work out
further in other projects. Although very different
in scale, this project already contained the
impulse for the considered project.