Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture

Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture

Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Table, Windows, ChairUrsulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, FacadeUrsulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Interior Photography, KitchenUrsulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, FacadeUrsulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - More Images+ 20

Mechelen, Belgium
  • Architects: Label Architecture
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  5018
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2019
  • Photographs
    Photographs:Stijn Bollaert
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  AutoDesk, Vande Moortel
Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, Brick, Facade
© Stijn Bollaert

Text description provided by the architects. The Ursulinensite in the centre of Mechelen, Belgium, is characterised by a mishmash of building types and styles, lacking any clear definition. Made up out of different public buildings intertwined with private dwellings, the building block presents itself as a labyrinthine and hardly legible piece of city fabric.

Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, Brick, Facade
© Stijn Bollaert
Plan A2
Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, Brick, Facade
© Stijn Bollaert

In an attempt to structure the open space of the building block, the project introduces a series of courtyards. In combination with the extreme compactness of the new buildings, we recreate large unbuilt spaces, forming breathing areas in the middle of the dense block.

Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Interior Photography, Stairs, Handrail
© Stijn Bollaert
Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Interior Photography, Kitchen, Windows
© Stijn Bollaert

The transition from the public to the private sphere, from the streets to the classrooms, has a clear hierarchy and becomes tangible in the positioning and permeability of its surrounding architecture.

Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Table, Windows, Chair
© Stijn Bollaert

The new volumes are as much integrated in their volume as they are in their architectural language. We turn the truth upside down. By referring to the industrial archetypes of the past, the buildings play with the memory of the residents. Maybe the school buildings were there first, have been renovated a few times, and the rest of the building block was built around them? 

Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture - Exterior Photography, Brick, Windows, Fence, Facade
© Stijn Bollaert

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Project location

Address:Mechelen, Belgium

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Ursulinen Blocks and Courtyards / Label Architecture" 12 Feb 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/933623/ursulinen-blocks-and-courtyards-label-architecture> ISSN 0719-8884

© Stijn Bollaert

Ursulinen街区改造,梳理‘迷宫式’城市肌理 / Label Architecture

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