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Architects: Abscis Architecten, Atelier Kempe Thill, UAU Collectiv
- Area: 7510 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Ulrich Schwarz
Transformation of the Herkenrode Barracks. In 2015, the planning team consisting of Abscis architecten, the UAU collectif, LAND landschapsarchitecten, and Atelier Kempe Thill architects and planners, in cooperation with the local property developers Kolmont and Vestio, won a competition by invitation for the development of the Herkenrode barracks in Hasselt, the capital city of the province of Limburg in the east of Flanders. The design team proposed a substantial conversion and retroactive densification of the block in the city center that adheres to the historical model of the medieval city but also supplements it with new spatial, social, and ecological qualities. What was proposed was rededicating the former drill grounds for the infantry soldiers in the middle of the block as a calm, green oasis in the city center. To link the new park with the public urban space as optimally as possible, three new passageways were thus integrated into the existing block and oriented the block perimeter development more intensively toward the greened courtyard space. The existing refugium of the “Sisters of Herkenrode Abbey” from the Renaissance (1544) as well as several monumental barracks buildings from the late nineteenth century are therefore embedded quite carefully in the new park concept and have been converted in part into residential buildings. One section of the northern block perimeter development from the twentieth century was demolished due to building damage and replaced with contemporary residential buildings, under which there is a two-story underground garage for the necessary parking spaces. With its cubic volume and its light brick façades, the new architecture is oriented toward the surrounding development and opens up to the green interior of the block with its spacious balconies and inserted entrance halls. These buildings were designed by Abscis and the UAU collectif.
