Open and vertical density. Melopee School by XDGA
25/11/2021.
[Ghent] Belgium
metalocus, CARLOS GONZÁLEZ
metalocus, CARLOS GONZÁLEZ
Melopee School is a multi-use building designed by Belgian architecture firm XDGA – short for Xaveer De Geyter Architects –and located within the Ghent docklands, Belgium, an area that is rapidly developing based on a masterplan by dutch architecture firm OMA.
XDGA designed this primary school as flexibility building, on a small plot of land where was necessary work with a tall structure, a five-storey steel framework containing a mix of classrooms, playgrounds and sports facilities. It also incorporates an after-school club, a nursery and public sports facilities.
XDGA designed this primary school as flexibility building, on a small plot of land where was necessary work with a tall structure, a five-storey steel framework containing a mix of classrooms, playgrounds and sports facilities. It also incorporates an after-school club, a nursery and public sports facilities.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Site plan - Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
Ground floor plan - Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
Second floor plan - Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
Fourth floor plan - Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
South elevation. Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
Longitudinal section. Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
Cross section. Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
Cross section. Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
Details. Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
Diagram. Melopee School, XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
XDGA realised that, in order to really maximise use of space, they needed to stack outdoor as well as indoor spaces and to split the plot into two halves, developing a traditional building structure on one side and a more open framework on the otherside.
"The project shows that it is possible to build a school on a site that is so small that even just the playgrounds do not fit on the plot."
Willem Van Besien.
Project description by XDGA
In the harbour area, a narrow stretch of land along a dock is freed from port activities. A very simple ‘chopstick’ urban plan is developed by O.M.A. in which green open pockets alternate with dense construction. In order to offer a notion of centrality to the linear plan, a public path is meant to cross the whole strip.
The site for the school faces one green area at its south side, the dock on its west side, a square and a housing block on the north, and the harbour road on the east. The requested program for the building, a combination of a primary school, after school care centre, a nursery, and sports facilities for both the school and its neighbourhood, is diverse and extensive.
On top, it requires a great deal of specific outside playgrounds. In order to counter the lack of space, deal with the inside-outside complexity of programs and allow for the public path to pass, the maximum building envelope is divided into two halves: one compact building housing all interior functions, and outside space in which the playgrounds are stacked. In between both, and under a first-level playground realized in glass tiles, the path crosses the volume.
A galvanized steel skeleton unifies the two halves. On the side of the interior volume, the façades of the building are designed as a patchwork of opaque and translucent polycarbonate, glass, and aluminium louvres. The outside structure will be overgrown with vegetation climbing along with a steel mesh, in which some large ‘windows’ are cut out.
More information
Architects
XDGA - Xaveer De Geyter Architects. Architects.- Xaveer De Geyter, Ingrid Huyghe, Willem Van Besien.
Design team
Competition.- Xaveer De Geyter, Doug Allard, Thérese Fritzell, Ingrid Huyghe, Willem Van Besien, Stéphanie Willocx.
Design.- Xaveer De Geyter, Karel Bruyland, Thérese Fritzell, Arie Gruijters, Ingrid Huyghe, Willem Van Besien, Stéphanie Willocx
Collaborators
Structure.- Ney & Partners.
Mechanics.- Studiebureau Boydens.
Acoustics.- Daidalos Peutz.
Mechanics.- Studiebureau Boydens.
Acoustics.- Daidalos Peutz.
Client
SO Gent.
Area
4,630 m².
Dates
2015-2020.
Location
Ghent, Belgium.
Materials / Products and brands
Jakob, Sika, Schuco, Aluprof, AutoDesk, CDM, Dott.Gallina, Flexidal, Fosfari lighting, Heinen, Herculan, MERCOR, Multiwal, OWAplan, Philips, St-Joris, Terradec, Wavin.
Photography
Xaveer De Geyter. Xaveer De Geyter Architects
Xaveer De Geyter Architects is a Brussels/Paris - based office practising architecture, urbanism and landscape design founded in 1988 by Xaveer De Geyter (1957) after his experience as project architect for OMA/Rem Koolhaas.
During the thirty years of its existence, XDGA has managed to build up a significant portfolio and obtain worldwide recognition thanks to its unique approach, diversified expertise and international team (54 collaborators from 11 countries).
XDGA counts to this day five monographs, numerous awards (Mies Van der Rohe Award, Bigmat Award, Flemish Culture Award for Architecture) and three travelling solo exhibitions.
XDGA’s most relevant realised projects include, amongst others: the Subway Station and Public Square Place Rogier in Brussels (2015), the new Headquarters for the Province of Antwerp (2019) and the Multipurpose School Building in Ghent (2020).
Ongoing projects comprise: the extension of the Fine Arts Mueum of Tournai, the development of Three City Blocks and a Mixed-use Building in Brussels.
During the thirty years of its existence, XDGA has managed to build up a significant portfolio and obtain worldwide recognition thanks to its unique approach, diversified expertise and international team (54 collaborators from 11 countries).
XDGA counts to this day five monographs, numerous awards (Mies Van der Rohe Award, Bigmat Award, Flemish Culture Award for Architecture) and three travelling solo exhibitions.
XDGA’s most relevant realised projects include, amongst others: the Subway Station and Public Square Place Rogier in Brussels (2015), the new Headquarters for the Province of Antwerp (2019) and the Multipurpose School Building in Ghent (2020).
Ongoing projects comprise: the extension of the Fine Arts Mueum of Tournai, the development of Three City Blocks and a Mixed-use Building in Brussels.
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