The new Admininstratief Centrum (AC) is designed on the site of the former Carmelite convent. The present convent site has been part of the collective memory of Leopoldsburg since 1843. Since then, the site has gone through many historical developments: parish church, warehouse, monastery.
However, the current requirements for an administrative centre in terms of sustainability, public service, working comfort and accessibility make the former monastery rooms unsuitable as a structure for contemporary offices, which have to meet very specific spatial and technical requirements. The chapel, on the other hand, has a valuable character both externally, as a "landmark" for the whole of Leopoldsburg, and internally through its dignified, serene character. The ambition of the design team is therefore to translate these observations into a supported design with respect for the existing value and the necessary attention for contemporary expectations. Historically, the chapel has always been the centre of the site. The extension of the vicarage house on the left has affected the visual value of the chapel by, among other things, incorporating the pediment into the volume of the house.
The restoration of the chapel as a fully-fledged spatial and visual focal point of a new AC is therefore taken as the basis of the overall design. By replacing the obsolete monastery rooms and outbuildings with appropriate new construction volumes on either side of the restored chapel, we not only design a comfortable and almost energy-neutral office building, but also restore the original status of the central chapel as a public centre both architecturally and functionally. The two new construction volumes that complete the AC are of similar materialisation and have the same façade, but differ in terms of volumetry and sculpture. In this way, the building remains in keeping with the city centre of Leopoldsburg and does not look inappropriately severe and monumental.
client
City of Leopoldsburg
location
Leopoldsburg, Belgium
period
2015
team
Lieven Achtergael, Sander Verhanneman, Vincent De Keyser, Kris Broidioi, Hendrik Roels.
i.c.w.
Cordeel, Grontmij