| Fort VI - High level Sports School, Antwerp
client : vespa, Open Oproep team : AgwA + Bjorn Gielen, Studieburo Mouton, Boydens status : competition The 8 Brialmont forts around Antwerp are the largest military fortification in Belgium. The geometrical footprint of these forts is very recognizable, but paradoxically, they almost disappear visually in the suburban context. Their hidden landscapes are to be discovered and explored. The school is an abstract, mysterious "fremdkörper" in the fort. This box, cladded with transparent and reflective bronze glass is like a treasure box, in which all spaces are carefully arranged. The compact setting and the absolut transparency on the inside create surprising and dramatic relations between the school, the sports facilities and the public spaces. The simple concrete columns, beams and slab structures vary according to the needs and the rooms. Fortuitously, the main circulation line of the building corresponds to the symmetry axis of the fort, conferring an almost cosmical interaction between the historical construction and the school. |