Social Service cluster Ideale woning, Berchem (B).
Working in and around a public city garden.
The design for De Ideale Woning’s social services campus focuses on being visibly present in both the neighbourhood and the city. It explores the balance between formal and informal ways of offering help and support, all within a high-quality spatial setting that is as meaningful as the services themselves. Our concept is built around the idea of ‘garden – home – house’. These three elements define a flexible framework that allows for public engagement with the neighbourhood, encouragessocial interaction, and supports new ways of working and collaborating. Thedesign starts with the garden and explores how buildings and rooms relate tothis green space. The goal is to create an informal, welcoming, and familiarenvironment from the outset.
This is done with recognizable elements such as a pathway, an awning, a bench, a canopy, a kitchen... Spaces for small moments, but also for a careful transition from public to private. To achieve this, the terms ‘office’ and ‘workspace’ have been expanded. In doing so, we create a place for everyone, where if not everything can be done, then a great deal can still be achieved. The various aspects of the programme are housed in different buildings, the composition of which lends shape to a number of outdoor rooms. This spatial structure provides a strong sense of cohesion, but at the same time creates places with their own distinct functions, identities and intimacy. The construction of the outdoor rooms and the architecture of the buildings go hand in hand. They are aimed at creating a transition between the more formal streetside and the more informal garden side. The site becomes accessible and is prepared for multiple use. The scale and composition of the new buildings responds to the perimeter and orientation. On the side of the Diksmuidelaan, a solid extension of the existing office building makes an immaculate main entrance to the site. In the garden, the buildings are lower and more ephemeral in quality.
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The circular nature of the project is reflected in the design of the facades. These have been designed in such a way that the materials can be recovered easily and without damage at the end of the life cycle of the buildings.
At the formal front, we examined a modular facade with ceramic panels, visibly mounted. The facades of the informal rear of the site were also designed in a circular way with a combination of recovered planks, wooden profiles and a visible mounting mechanism.
Circularity introduces a new form of ornament.
The Ideale Woning site is an important habitat and passage for various animal species. It is therefore important to preserve and further strengthen the ecological permeability of the site.
