IOK Headquarters, Geel (B).
Beacon between city and landscape.
The construction of a new head office for the Intercommunity Development Company for the Kempen is part of a masterplan for the development of an office and business park which borders the ring road around Geel. The masterplan is structured around an ensemble of simple volumes that are nonetheless rich in character. The specific formal ratios and mutual positioning of these buildings generate a spatial transition from a vertical and dense construction at the intersection of the ring – the main access route to the city centre – and a horizontal construction adjacent to the agrarian landscape which surrounds the city of Geel.
The new head office adopts a prominent position on the site. It is a compact volume with a central core, around which is situated an extremely flexible layout. On the ground floor – where the reception and meeting facilities are located – protruding elements form a seam for the building which anchor it in the immediate environment.
The building is designed in accordance with high sustainability targets. It is a low-energy building which satisfies the required comfort norms thanks to its high insulation levels, minimal perforation and concrete core activation connected to a BTES-field. The choice of all materials – and their finishing – is also in line with this overall ambition.
The facade is constructed as a modular shell of prefabricated, wooden construction elements, finished with wooden siding. The rhythm of the wooden elements emphasises the internal modularisation of the building and breaks the otherwise very generic rhythm of the window openings. The resulting elegant rhythm of th efaçade, in combination with the choice of materials and the robust detailing, is a translation of the link between a commercial programme in a mundane and almost rural environment.

Images/videos are always set to 4 or 6 columns wide.
Within a 'Project', two additional sizes are used:
- Full-screen image (all columns)
- Carousel (8 columns)
A maximum of 2 images or videos can be on the same row, with at least 1 column of space between them.
'Panels' always accompany corresponding content and never stand alone.
Only one 'Panel' can be attached to each row.
