The Jordaenskaai in Antwerp developed from the Burgt – the historic centre or first, small medieval settlement from which the city evolved. The construction site is a special location with prehistoric finds, remains of the medieval city walls and of the old Antwerp canal. The remains have been painstakingly integrated into the ensemble and are largely visible in the ample inner zone accessible to residents and visitors.
“Building schools means building the future, as youngsters will assimilate and pass on their spatial experience of light, air, simplicity and beauty throughout their lives. The designers were honoured to have the opportunity to deliver creative social impulses of this kind. Following several earlier ‘trial runs’ in the centre of Mortsel (merger of three primary schools), central Antwerp (UIA) and Gasthuisberg hospital in Leuven (midwifery), this fourth winning competition design for a school building is the most expressive to date.
Station neighborhoods are prominent meeting places and urban anchors within a city. They are potential impulses which can activate cities towards a stronger metropolis. There where the heartbeats of arriving and departing, sojourning and saying farewell, the skyline is the silhouette of a station’s neighbourhood, a fact that stays in your memory as a traveller.
We were commissioned to build Infrax West’s new offices after winning a competition in which Infrax’s high degree of ambition had to be expressed in a strong conceptual design that matched and enhanced its corporate identity. Our characteristic ecological and sustainable values were given expression in this project by using a metaphor for a forest in which a host of slender concrete trunks were topped with a broad green ‘crown’.
The IJzerenleen is a well-known, broad street in the town centre, enclosed by the town hall and the River Dijle. The IJzerenleen is commonly known as the ‘Champs Elysées’ of Mechelen. It accommodates several famous commercial enterprises such as Windels, Damart, chemist shop ‘t Verguld Schaap and the famous cheese shop Schockaert and the former town hall houses a small museum.
The project is a peaceful combination of old and new. The new part is a sober black canvas looking at the garden from behind the old walls. In several places remnant parts of the old walls are kept as garden elements, an aspect that strengthens the atmosphere. When you walk through the house you feel continuously that you are in a nexus between old and new.
The river Dijle is of great importance for the history of Mechelen. Right through the center flows the River Dijle. The river with its Dijle Tablets provide a physical barrier in the fabric of the city, but is also a fast connection from the surrounding countryside, along the city park ‘The Botanique’ to the center. The Lange Schipstraat is the part of this route that was designed by OKRA, and part of this route over the Dijle Tablets.
After the end of World War I, with the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, the neutral area surrounding the municipality of Kelmis, Belgium, and the German administrative district of Eupen-Malmedy, Belgium, are annexed. As a result, some seventy thousand Germans become Belgian citizens. Since large-scale state reforms are enacted (1968–1971), Belgium officially consists not only of the Flemish and Walloon Regions along with Brussels but also of the German-speaking community with its recognized rights and autonomies.
The assignment for the Sint Katelijnestraat is ambiguous. The idea is to develop the quality of the public space and further expansion of the qualitative network of the town of Mechelen.
Meanwhile, the heart of the town has gotten a large quality-impulse but a beautiful route to the centre is still lacking. Thereby, Mechelen will be an attractive town to visit. By that, the undiscovered heart of the centre will actually be exposed. Because of the structure of the town, the orientation in the medieval public space network is difficult. The redevelopment of the town radius Sint Katelijnestraat largely contributes to this and will thereby form an orientation line in the centre.
Water in Historic City Centres’ has Mechelen as its proving ground
The first project for the ‘Water in Historic City Centres’ (WIHCC) project has been completed in Mechelen, Belgium. The Melaan, a tributary of the Dijle river, has been excavated and newly landscaped in the old city centre of Mechelen.
WIHCC is a European collaborative project between the cities of Breda (NL), ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NL), Gent (B), Mechelen (B) Chester (UK) and Limerick (IE). The project was set up within the framework of the European Interreg (Interregional Cooperation Programme) for North-West Europe (NWE). The project has roughly reached its halfway stage: the opening conference took place in November 2003, and the closing event is planned for November 2007 in Breda.
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