For our programmatic setup, this architectural structure and the character of the spaces were the leading principles. We consider the building’s imperfections, resulting from various modifications over several centuries and from neglect in recent decades, to be its great strength. Our restoration strives to preserve the traces of its long and tumultuous history. We avoided reconstructing its original state: later renovations, additions, and traces of decay remain visible both outside and in. In our view, the building’s distinct features and its scars are an integral part of it and are as attractive as they are disturbing.

The rooms on the ground floor include the entrance hall, the café, and restaurant. The courtyard serves as a terrace and a multipurpose ‘outdoor room’. With its various entrances, openings, and public functions’, the ground floor opens the building to the city. The premises of the former monastic library are located on the first floor in the inner ring. These rooms, with their beautiful vaulted ceilings, their dignified proportions, and their soft light, are ideally suited for use as a classic study library. The spaces around it in the outer ring serve as office spaces and classrooms that are both multifunctional and interchangeable. In contrast to the other rooms of the monastery, the impressive attic is free of religious meaning and history.

With its monumental wooden structure, the attic is a room full of stories and associations, and in our view the ideal place for a general library for children and adults. For additional natural light and better views of the city, we added several dormer windows and skylights. We are aware that the role of printed media, books, and other sources of information will be different in the future.

However, we believe that libraries, as public living rooms and collective working environments, can continue to play a vital role in the public life of our cities. The building owes its charm to the timeless power of the former monastery. Due to its impressive interior, the new library has the potential to become an important social venue in Mechelen and a lasting attraction. In the years to come, the Predikherenkloooster will become, as the mayor put it, “a literary wellness centre”.

Text provided by the architect.

The design concerns a compact and energy-efficient single-family home. The starting point: respect for the relief and the environment. A compact volume was aimed so that the visual relationships from the public domain to the landscape behind are preserved. Due to the compact hexagonal, equilateral footprint, the volume stands solitary in the landscape, the undeveloped land retains its relief as much as possible.

The shape with its sloping sides creates a greater distance to the lateral plot boundaries, which limits the impact on the environment and provides privacy to the neighbors. In the side walls, the window openings are also limited to ensure the privacy of the neighbors. In order to integrate the volume discreetly into the landscape and to provide a sufficient residential program, the house is pushed into the slope.

At the rear, within the enclosed hexagon, we withdraw the protected volume and introduce a wooden curtain wall that extends over the 3 stories. The patio created between the curtain wall and the stone shell serves as sun protection in the warm summer months. The curtain wall guarantees a view of the landscape behind every floor. The openings in the brick volume frame the landscape. The concrete (ring) beams in the facade guarantee the stability of the self-supporting facade masonry under wind loads.

Text provided by the architect.

The concrete layers divide the brick walls and articulate the internal organisation of space. The walls are made in used brick with articulated bulging joints. This create a tactile surface which captures light and shadow. Chalk is added to the mortar to give the joints a more white color. The desired color and texture are the result of making on site samples of brickwork. (Actually we tried a few experiments ourselves to find a good result) The precast concrete units are made on site, in a white cement based concrete to match the colour of the masonry joints. The bricks are recuperated from an old demolished factory building in the neighbourhood. To achieve the wall texture we asked the masons to let the mortar bulge out between the stones. Then they used a dry brush or their hands instead of a trowel to remove the redundant mortar on the joints. This required a specific sensitivity and skill from the masons to achieve a consistent result for the whole building.

Inside, the house and workshop creates a centrifugal circuit of rooms around a central core . The spatial flow of rooms follows the rhythm of the occupant. The circulation is done in a functional manner with a minimum loss of useful space. Each room has its own identity through the different changing light , views and variety in length and width.

The upper rooms and workshop are pleasantly illuminated. The light reflects on the whitewashed plywood ceilings and beams . The seemingly closed facades each generate light and open interiors. The interior material pallet consist of a natural sand/lime render, polished concrete and white oiled plywood and beams. The lime render is mixed with fine sand and an amount of marble dust which results in a rougher texture and a subtle variation in colour. The walls stay unpainted.

Text provided by the architect.

On this modest plot size, a spacious residence had to be combined with the clients wish for a garden. Therefore, the footprint of the house is minimized within the given building height, resulting in a vertically organized program. Due to the proximity of the houses in the neighbourhood, the amount of privacy in the garden is limited. Hence, the tower-like structure offers a roof terrace with maximum privacy where one can dwell between the treetops.

The Atlas House is built with large types of red bricks, both inside and outside. For the facades, a striking brushed form of pointing is used, creating a strong graphical pattern. Across the volume, the facades contain decorations that refer to the Dutch Neo-Renaissance tradition of enriching ordinary brickwork with plaster, suggesting architectural elements like keystones and tympans. The upper part of the building is finished with a light-colored layer of cement, distinguishing the classical plinth from the more lightweight top. The slightly lifted corners of the roof further emphasize this theme, bringing Atlas to mind, the Greek mythological figure that carries the sky on his shoulders for eternity.

Text provided by the architect.