Kloosterstraat commercial property Antwerp

Urban commercial project with 63m2 of commercial space with house

Status

Procedure

Client

Dates

Surface

Collaborators

Collaborations

Eddy Henskens
structural engineering and coordination safety
Xenadvies
energy engineering

The Kloosterstraat is characterised by stately row houses with a thriving retail sector at ground level. The renovation of the existing Kloosterstraat 11 building will further expand this typology. During the design process, therefore, a simple form was sought that occupies a clear place in the existing and historical line of façades on the Kloosterstraat.

The commercial ground floor is to be topped by three storeys forming the company residence.

For the façade on the street side, a clear and simple system of stacked frames with three-dimensional profiling was chosen. The slender rectangular frames subtly refer to the window openings of the neighbouring historical buildings by their proportions. The ground floor is the only one that deviates. In this way, the ground floor is a podium with the same materiality and appearance on which the rest appears stacked.

In addition to these frames, the façade is fully glazed. In this way, the wooden beam structure of the interior is maximally visible from the street side. On the ground and first floors, this wooden structure is a remnant of the existing building and of historical value. A new beam structure is designed for the new upper floors. In addition, a timber structure is also light and ideally suited to expanding on top of an existing structure.

The different floors are connected by a passenger lift. At the rear façade, there will also be an external staircase leading from the roof terrace to the top floor.