Page 64 - Tussen binnenstad en spoor - Leuven 2003

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__ THE ARCHITECTONIC DEVELOPMENT
The long construction volume was given rhythm in
various ways to avoid coming across as one contin-
uous, monotonous strip. The base of the building
is 280 metres long and 29.40 metres wide. It con-
sists of three storeys over the entire length. The
main entrance of the building is situated on the
station side, between the signal cabin and the first
main volume. It is a fully glazed space with a
double height. The first two stories of the base are
less deep because there is a double-height gallery
on the ground floor on the Tiensevest side. It is a
long gallery that is seen as a covered street but
with an outdoor climate, which affords a view on
the esplanade with the trees. These two stories can
be occupied freely, and can even function sepa-
rately from the rest of the building. The third storey
takes up the entire surface area. Eleven office vol-
umes, each with three stories, are placed on this
continuous base. The useful floor space of the
offices is 29.40 x 15 metres. The eleven volumes of
the upper building are connected by footbridges
on every level on the east side, i.e. the side of the
rail tracks.
Between the office volumes are 9-metre wide atria.
This makes it possible to open the vertical windows
of the offices on the quiet interior spaces instead
of the noisy street and railway sides. The interior
windows on the floor level have a mullion, a solu-
tion which will give the interior a rather calm, nearly Samyn has always endeavoured to design as light
classical look. The roofs of the atria are in glass and structures as possible. This unremitting quest for
can be opened halfway, in the event of fire or on
extremely warm days. This makes it possible to use
natural ventilation, an important component in the
design of durable buildings. Another important
advantage is that the atria are not seen as interior
but as exterior spaces. The result is that, according
to fire regulations, the upper three floors are con-
sidered as a low building with all the advantages
thereof. It is not necessary to install superfluous
and expensive-, fire-resistant doors in this building.
The compartmentalisation which precludes any
spatiality in most office buildings is completely
absent here. Samyn has designed a building where
space is experienced with extensive fluidity, as the
strict boundary between inner and outer space is
very vague.
Six metal emergency stairways have been installed
on the façade on the Tiensevest side, which project
about six metres from the façade. These elegantly
designed stair structures run through to the lower-
most basement level so that the car park can be
evacuated. The façade is given rhythm on the rail
side by means of eleven vertical technical shafts
which contain alternatingly sanitary facilities and the from other possibilities of materials and construc-
vertical circulation. These tubes function as wind
bracings for the entire building. A technical room is
provided for each volume, where the walls have
been covered by overgrowth, which is also applied
on the roof surfaces. The building will be seen as a
green surface from the upper floors of the
Provincial Government Building. Together with the
new trees on the Tiensevest, this will form a visual
whole in the long run. Instead of one voluminous
and clumsy technical floor, Samyn opted for a solu-
tion where the technical infrastructure is integrated
in the building concept in a far more obvious
manner. At the same time, these technical rooms
are used to give extra rhythm to the construction
volume – which will be best appreciated from the
other side of the tracks, i.e. from Kessel-Lo.
light and elegant structures becomes an important
theme in the project. All façades of the offices are
designed as wooden façade panels. The wood in
the façade and carpentry is protected from rain by
a cornice and by gangways on each floor, which
run round the entire building. The gangways are
moreover decisive for the composition and final
visual experience of the exterior of the building. All
exterior and interior joinery work is in wood. Next
to hard materials such as steel and glass, wood will
create a special atmosphere inside and outside the
building. There are wood sliding panels on the
outer façades and Venetian blinds on the inner
façades of the atria to provide optimal shading
from the sun.
In the project, Samyn achieves an extremely clear
concept. In fact, the ground plan is a taut structure
with flexibility as to possible use. Such flexibility is
not determined by moveable aspects but by the
concept which will offer the building owner various
possibilities. Like his contemporaries Jean Nouvel
and Dominique Perrault, Philippe Samyn wants to
leave form behind and make a new architecture
tion. The designed project is an important pivoting
point in Samyn’s work. It reflects his ambition for an
architecture with controlled classical aura. Technical
know-how and computer technology are not
deployed to produce a spectacular, showy
building. This building is not an eye-catcher, no
constructed visual logo for a company. The office
building must first and foremost offer possibilities,
the flexibility to organise an appropriate and
smooth work structure, and not to hinder future
developments. On the other hand, it must become
a pleasant workplace for more than one thousand
people, a building that is more than the delivery of
available square metres.
MARC DUBOIS (*1950)
Architect, professor Department Architecture Sint-Lucas
Ghent & Brussels. From 1977 unwards till 1995
member of the Royal Commission of Monuments and
Sites. Advisor for the Mies van der Rohe Award Barcelona
(official architecture prize of the European Community).
From 1993 member of CICA (International Committee
of Architectural Critics).
From 1999 vice-president of the Commission Architecture
and Design of the Flemish Community.