Robbrecht en Daem architecten . Dierendonckbancke architecten . plans: © Robbrecht en Daem architecten en Dierendonckblancke architecten
Clad in a crystalline skin of structured glass and brass-coloured anodized aluminium frames, this park building is embedded in the variable topography of its site, the different sides each responding to a different context. Whereas the long facade addresses the longitude of the park and the frontality of the ‘Ereperk der Gefussileerden’, a military cemetery for both World Wars, the northern volume anchors the building in the urban fabric.
Divided into a ‘Head’ and ‘Body’, the volumetric appearance of a tower and a slender main volume emphasises the emptiness in-between the central event square and the new-to-discover park chamber. From here a multifunctional pedestrian passage emerges.
As a covered space, this passage – call it ‘a square’ – can accommodate a book market, a philharmonic concert, the setting for a television show, or simply be a welcome shelter from the rain. Head and Body are almost symbolically connected through one continuous storey, housing the newsroom.
At the south side of the building, stacked galleries form an open, non-acclimatized space alternated with open balconies that serve as informal workspaces, in addition to the formal ones.
These ‘formal’ workspaces are situated in one continuous volume throughout the upper floors, with alternating double-height ceilings, allowing natural daylight to infiltrate deep into the building.
The different television or radio studios are positioned according to their function and use. Some are on the level of the logistic flows. Others are connected to the park and the public lobby, or situated in the immediate vicinity of the newsroom.
VRT Brussels, Belgium 2015
Program
Media building for the VRT, Flemish Radio and Television Company
Client
VRT
Location
Auguste Reyerslaan
1043 Brussels
Date
2015 – …
Status
1st prize competition entry 2015
ongoing
Floor Surface
55 000 m2
Design Team
TBM Robbrecht en Daem – Dierendonckblancke – VK – Arup
Architects
Robbrecht en Daem architecten
Dierendonckbancke architecten
Paul Robbrecht
Hilde Daem
Johannes Robbrecht
Alexander Dierendonck
Isabelle Blancke
Assistants
Wim Voorspoels
Barbara Deceuninck
Corné Schep
Pierre de Brun
Simon Ceuterick
Lennart Vandewaetere
Landscape Design
Bureau Bas Smets
Interior Design
Muller Van Severen
Consultants
Structural engineer
VK Engineering and Arup
Services engineer
VK Engineering and Arup
Acoustic engineer
Arup and VK Engineering
Façade engineer
VK Engineering and Arup
Fire engineer
VK Engineering
Lighting engineer
Arup
Security engineer
Arup
Quantity surveyor
Grontmij
Visuals
Make Me
Model
Made by Mistake
