Sint-Katelijne-Waver Administrative Centre

Competition project with new-build offices for municipal services

Type

Status

Procedure

Dates

Collaborations

ABT
structural engineering
Bureau Bouwtechniek
MEP engineering and cost control

The administrative centre of Sint-Katelijne-Waver is implanted at the crossing of the Leliestraat (connecting road to Mechelen) and the Lemanstraat, a few hundred metres away from the central market.

The elaborated competition design looks for a balance between dealing with the necessary surface for an administrative centre and the small scale of the existing buildings: a ribbon of terraced houses and detached one family houses.

The building dares to be big, which results in a maximum impact and thus a broad influence on its surroundings and becomes a strong basis that contributes to the whole neighbourhood. Moreover it has a transparent set-up and it symbolises a clear act. This gives the administrative centre status and charisma, worthy of such a building.

Because it faces a yet to be constructed roundabout, a square is created as introduction to the public building.

The building is conceived as a long stretched version of the typical atrium typology, in which the atrium forms a public zone between the street and the offices. The set-up is clear: the office can be developed as office, without a further specific use. The atrium on the other hand, becomes, together with some other specific functions, the calling card of the project.

Besides, the atrium also serves as a buffer for temperature and acoustics for the offices and ensures great clarity: every space has a view of the atrium and can be seen from outside the building.