OFFICE 301

The project called for a transformation of a former slaughterhouse into a new campus of the AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Antwerp. A single-story industrial hall was to be reused as a hi-tech workspace for approximately 3,500 students enrolled in science and biomedical technology courses. The transformation involved inserting a new floor slab within the existing hall, which doubled the original 7.600m2 surface of the building. This new structural ‘table’ standing on round columns is distinguished by its smooth concrete finishing from the existing concrete structure, which is left exposed. The new structure is further stabilising the original facade, which was cut in the lower level to make a continuous glazed panelling on the ground floor. Above, the facade is perforated with round openings which either serve as windows or air vents. The plan is organised by two wide parallel corridors that give access to all the workshops, lecture rooms and laboratories. Adjacent to the hall, and connected to it by a passage on the ground floor, a new tower was erected to accommodate classrooms and administration, with its volume stepping back to make terraces on the upper floors. The tower and the hall together make the landmark of the future sustainable mixed-use development.