BEL052 – OFFICE BUILDING KURARAY EVAL
The port area where the new office building will be located feels rough and rugged: a banal collection of roads, parking lots, generic industrial buildings, and petrochemical installations. It is an open landscape, windy and noisy, with hardly any greenery. The Scheldt River is nearby but invisible. A calming view of it is missing.
We propose a building that is imaginative, subtle, and remarkable — so that we forget all of that!
We position the building in the northeast corner to ensure a minimal walking distance between the offices and the plant; to allow for a diagonal open view of the plant and an existing row of trees to the north; and to keep the rest of the site available for future buildings on the southern side.
The triangular footprint we propose guarantees the longest possible fenêtre en longueur — the longest conceivable panoramic view of the plant. At the front, two rows of parking spaces on black asphalt would border the Nieuwe Weg. A path crosses the parking lot diagonally. To the left, a garden with white gravel and Japanese cherry trees.
Our design is based on an ideal office unit of 4.80 x 4.80 m for four employees, with a modular desk, a chair, an individual shelf that acts as an acoustic barrier, and enough space to walk around comfortably. All these units fit into a neat grid — a triangular carpet that completely fills the building’s floor plan. The floor plan is a literal translation of the collaboration between the four business units: production, production support, sales, and sales support.
We propose a compact and efficient building that, thanks to its triangular footprint, reduces the facade surface. A sloped roof angled at 33° and oriented to the south allows for maximum solar panel efficiency! The panels harvest sunlight to produce renewable electricity while simultaneously shading the interior space. A large basin at the base of the roof would collect rainwater. This water would be reused for sanitary purposes and for irrigating the plants. A geothermal field would harness the earth’s thermal energy to heat and cool the building.
The structure of the building will be made of wood. The finishes will use recycled plastic.
We build circularly!