Well-rounded design catches the eye, and further prizes
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Project update January 2015 – City hall and civic center recycled from former factory, Oostkamp, Belgium
The entire building is reused, with a far-reaching transformation of the interior creating a luminous landscape of clouds. The self-supporting gypsum with glass-mat reinforcement shells are only 7mm thick, weighing 7kg/m2. Photo © Miguel de Guzmán imagensubliminal.com
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Project update January 2015 – City hall and civic center recycled from former factory, Oostkamp, Belgium
Weather interface: in a country with unstable weather, the design incorporates an interface that responds to external conditions. The wind-powered artificial sun, the anidolic natural light ducts, and the sheltered piazza interact with the thermal onion and the inertia of the industrial concrete slab in a simple, self-managed system requiring minimal extra heating and no cooling. Photo © Miguel de Guzmán imagensubliminal.com
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Project update January 2015 – City hall and civic center recycled from former factory, Oostkamp, Belgium
Sustainable exuberance where simple technology creates spectacular results. The GRG shells, simple and easy, turn an enormous ugly factory into a wonderful experience, with a tiny energy budget. Photo © Miguel de Guzmán imagensubliminal.com
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Project update January 2015 – City hall and civic center recycled from former factory, Oostkamp, Belgium
The thermal onion is a major device to minimize energy consumption during operation. The thermal inertia of the industrial concrete slab means no cooling is required. Photo © Miguel de Guzmán imagensubliminal.com
Spanish architect Carlos Arroyo’s iconic City hall and civic center recycled from former factory in Oostkamp, Belgium won the Holcim Awards Silver 2011 for Europe and has since received accolades from the Flemish Government and architecture portal ArchDaily. Instead of demolishing the former Coca-Cola factory on the four-hectare site, the design refurbishes the building and transforms its use, with significant grey energy and cost savings compared to new construction.
Last updated: January 22, 2015 Oostkamp, Belgium
Instead of demolishing the former Coca-Cola factory on the four-hectare site, the City hall and civic center recycled from former factory refurbishes the building and transforms its use, with significant grey energy and cost savings compared to new construction. The key idea of the project was not only to recycle the main construction and materials but also to reuse the space itself and its technical infrastructure. The simple but clever concepts for technical infrastructure include spatial organization according to thermal zones to reduce energy consumption, and effective deployment of natural lighting via a solar chimney and patio system.
The project received the Prijs Bouwmeester in 2013 for the Conversion Category, from the Government of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium. The award honors public and semi-public clients with a focus on meeting the complex needs of civic architecture. The eye-catching design of inverted spheres created from fiber-reinforced gypsum shells transforms the interior of the building, providing a sense of differentiated spaces. The City hall and civic center re-uses the factory building and its technical infrastructure to reduce waste and gray (embodied) energy, clusters services on one site, and uses a series of modular clusters to reduce space heating (and thus energy consumption) to targeted areas.
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It was one of two projects by Carlos Arroyo to be listed in ArchDaily’s 65 Best New Buildings in the World for 2012, derived from more than 70,000 votes by visitors to the Arch Daily website for buildings featured during the year. The finalists confirm how great architects know how to meld personality and functionality in the astounding buildings they design.