Campus ACV-CSC-Metea / evr-Architecten

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Text description provided by the architects. The old campus at Sint Pietersstation in Ghent stretched between Koning Boudewijnstraat and Koning Albertlaan and consisted of a sequence of several buildings (with two facades and two views) on the street and three smaller buildings in the courtyard. The whole did not show its semi-public programme to the neighbourhood in any way. In addition, the campus' existing buildings formed an unorganised whole, both structurally and architecturally. Over the years, various interventions and renovations distorted and warped this cluster of buildings, resulting in a lack of functional coherence, interaction, and legibility. Maximum efforts were initially made to preserve the existing infrastructure: the old archives cellar was transformed into a bicycle shed and made accessible from the street, and the three existing rear volumes were stripped and renovated in their entirety according to BEN principles. Despite their robust structure, the existing main volumes were not compatible with contemporary comfort requirements and were replaced by a new volume in wood construction. By building with wood, the carbon footprint of the new building is significantly reduced, a very conscious choice by the client and the design team.