OFFICE 359

Megafactory is the new manufacturing plant of the Belgian satellite platforms and geospatial intelligence company Aerospacelab. Situated on the outskirts of Charleroi, between the residential and industrial areas, the complex consists of two volumes: the main production hall and the steel structure skeleton of an existing 1970s office block, stripped bare and reused as a parking garage in order to reduce the footprint of the new complex. The two volumes are connected by a pedestrian bridge. The main building is a 130m-long elliptical volume which works like a box within a box, enclosing a large rectangular production and assembly space (the so-called ‘cleanroom’). In between the cleanroom and the perforated metallic facade are smaller ateliers and laboratories that create a buffer zone for the technologically sensitive spaces. On the upper floor, a field of offices and shared facilities is pierced by a grid of circular patios, lightwells and cores that connect the main hall to the accessible roof garden. The building sits on the site in such a way as to make three public squares around it, each in line with the functioning of the factory, but also improving the interaction of the building with its immediate surroundings.