Groen Steenbrugge / Architecten Groep III

Location

The mixed housing project ‘Groen Steenbrugge’ is situated at the border of the city of Bruges along the canal Ghent-Bruges. After breaking down the dilapidated sheds and with the preservation of the valuable mansion a new site was created to set up a renovation and construction project.

© Uzien - Groen Steenbrugge / Architecten Groep III

General description

The project is composed out of an underground parking housing 27 cars with on top 8 new single family houses and a new office building. The valuable mansion is transformed in a student house. All cars are banned out of the site. Through the underground parking, the houses and the office can be served using a private staircase. One central, overdimensioned path is crossing the site and connects a busy road with another housing area in the back. Doing this, a vital link is reconstructed. With respect for green surroundings and the mansion the principles of the classic allotment with street/parking/sidewalk/building plot/… is ignored. The explicit choice for an underground parking and the specific puzzle of the volumes taking in account orientation, privacy, density several users (students, housing, office) generate the context and significance of the project.

Office

The office is the leading volume and shows the bigger sustainable story: a heat pump with geothermal drilling up to 12 meters, a green roof, balance ventilation, insulation, solar control glass, energy efficient lightning with presence detection, rainwater recuperation,… The collective spaces and an lawyers office are located in the tower building. The architect’s office is a long ground floor volume with a complete basement. The offices, the landscape office, meeting rooms merge perfectly. The vertical circulation existing out of stairs and an elevator is situated in the core accessible for all users.

Interior

Materials

Several subtle architectural elements give the project his own identity. One of these binding elements is the use of bricks. The brick with hues of blue, dark- and light brown generate a specific aura. The bricks are processed in two different ways, glued and thin-bed mortar. Also the joinery is used in several ways.