BEL018 – STUDENTSQUARE AND SOCIAL WELFARE STUDIES BUILDING
We propose the creation of a new student square, centrally positioned on the northern part of the campus, just south of the sports hall.
The new SOAG classroom building — designed for the Faculty of People and Wellbeing — will be placed “on top” of this square, forming a vibrant and strategic focal point for Campus Schoonmeersen North.
This location offers a strong alternative to the originally proposed site on Schoonmeersen South, unlocking a range of spatial, social, and infrastructural advantages:
Optimal accessibility: the best possible connection to surrounding networks;
Efficient use of resources: by leveraging existing infrastructure and facilities;
Cross-pollination: a mix of faculties, programs, and students — the campus as a miniature city;
Circulation efficiency: minimizing travel distance and time loss between classes;
Integrated parking: better connection and optimization of parking infrastructure;
Generous space for soft mobility: supporting a new pedestrian and cycling axis to the city center;
A beacon for the school: a distinctive building that addresses the new Gent-Sint-Pieters station district with a strong architectural presence.
The new building for the Faculty of SOAG is suspended above the future student square, forming a striking fifth façade that energizes the public space below.
Beneath this elevated volume, the new sports hall and parking facilities are integrated. By combining the parking needs of the classroom building with those of the sports hall, two key programmatic demands are resolved in a single architectural gesture.
The building’s main circulation takes the form of a loop: a sequence of sculptural stairs and ramps that spiral through the structure and culminate in a rooftop solarium.
Along this loop — both above and below — are social and informal gathering spaces: coffee corners, meeting points, and special program areas such as creative classrooms for music, drama, play, and visual arts.
The top two floors host a large auditorium with generous views.
Classroom partitions are conceived as half transparent and half opaque walls, creating an open, daylight-flooded atelier atmosphere — a “dynamic learning landscape.”
The walls are non-load-bearing and made from lightweight modular systems, allowing for easy reconfiguration to meet evolving educational needs.
This results in a highly flexible and future-proof structure that supports innovation in teaching and learning.