project
VAC
competition with Mario Corea Architects, Spain
Flemish administration offices
site
Leuven, Belgium
design date / completion
2001 / -
surface / budget
29 000 m² / 29 750 000 €
client
Flemish Government
design team
Oana Bogdan, Mario Corea, Tom De Fraine, Pieter Meuwissen, Maarten Storms, Leo Van Broeck
structural eng. / technical eng.
Inardi ingeniera arquitectura y diagnosis / Robert Brufau I Associats
A city in a city. A long and flexible strip of offices and interior public spaces is stretched along the railroad between two significant spots.
At the south façade, towards the city centre, the strip bends up into an auditorium cantilevered above the main entrance and looking out on the train and bus station.
At the north end the strip bends up into a split tower acting as a landmark along the city ring.
An interior public street with escalators connects the north and south entrances. Along this street patio's, gardens and terraces are spread throughout the building, providing daylight, green and internal transparencies. To embody also 'democratic transparency' as an overall image desired by the government administration, the complete building was wrapped in steel mesh.
Text and images from : VBM
