Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior PhotographyTraction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior PhotographyTraction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography, ArchTraction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior PhotographyTraction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - More Images+ 50

  • Architects: Van Belle Medina
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  2000
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2020
  • Photographs
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Petersen Tegl
  • Lead Architects: Kurt Van Belle, Patricia Medina
  • Drawings: Anna García
  • City: Antwerp
  • Country: Belgium
More SpecsLess Specs
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Luchtbal. Image © Stijn Bollaert

Text description provided by the architects. The assignment consists of the design of three tram traction stations and was commissioned by De Lijn, the public transport company of Belgium. The three electrical cabins provide power to the new tram line in the north of Antwerp. The three different locations take part of a larger whole:

“Brabo2: the new tram line from Rooseveltplaats Antwerp to Luchtbal and the Eilandje area”.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Luchtbal. Image © Stijn Bollaert
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Image 31 of 55
Luchtbal - Plan
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Luchtbal. Image © Stijn Bollaert

The three different locations and technical requirements give as a result three different buildings, by making use of every particular setting; in a small park on Noorderlaan in the Luchtbal residential area, under a bridge next to a bus park in Tjalkstraat, and on the cross roads opposite of Zaha Hadid’s Port House.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Luchtbal. Image © Stijn Bollaert
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Image 35 of 55
Luchtbal - East Facade
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Luchtbal. Image © Stijn Bollaert

The particular architecture of every of the three buildings does more than to house technical installations. Their voluptuous brick forms transform them into pavilions, introducing poetry into the different and difficult urban sites. The project contributes to an urban narrative, creating unprecedented views of the landscape, examining what sustainability means and exploring the boundaries of what the architectural discipline stands for.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Tjalkstraat. Image © Stijn Bollaert

The stations are designed taking into account the urban and landscape qualities of its context. The symbiosis between site complexity and infrastructure, gives as a result three different objects with three different architectural identities and urban meaning.

The pavilions become part of the urban fabric, and their form and expression recreate the dialogue between architecture, infrastructure, and nature.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Tjalkstraat. Image © Stijn Bollaert
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Image 40 of 55
Tjalkstraat - Plan
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography, Arch
Tjalkstraat. Image © Stijn Bollaert

Every building is positioned on the site in order to give enough freedom of use around it, respecting the surrounding landscape elements and including them into the planning organization of the buildings.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography, Brick
Tjalkstraat. Image © Stijn Bollaert
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Image 43 of 55
Tjalkstraat - South Facade
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Tjalkstraat. Image © Stijn Bollaert

The Luchtbal area is part of a green corridor bounded by a constellation of buildings. The station is conceived as a garden pavilion to add structure and quality to the park, creating visual relationships and activating social dynamism.

A wall with arched openings marks out a circle in the park which, in a single gesture, contains the cabin, the existing trees and sculpture.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Straatsburgbrug. Image © Maxime Delvaux

The Tjalkstraat station is located on the slope of the Noorderlaan, and it is conceived like a masonry wall of bricks with three semicircular recesses. This gesture provides an inviting shelter to anyone who is waiting for the tram. The building remembers us to the great care that public infrastructural interventions where designed a century ago.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Straatsburgbrug. Image © Maxime Delvaux
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Image 49 of 55
Straatsburgbrug - Plan
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Straatsburgbrug. Image © Maxime Delvaux

The Strasbourg Bridge station is located to the east of the new Port House designed by Zaha Hadid, and it is conceived as a place to take rest and lookout to the Port House, the Kattendijkdok, and the Albert Canal.

The plan is developed following the trace of the tram loop, incorporating two staircases which lift the visitor to the roof level. Like a small mooring post, the building offers a subtle and not unironic riposte to the dominant architecture of the Port House.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Straatsburgbrug. Image © Maxime Delvaux
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Image 53 of 55
Straatsburgbrug - Southeast Facade
Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography
Straatsburgbrug. Image © Maxime Delvaux

Although the generic concept is to adapt every volume to its specific context and infrastructural requirements, in order to achieve different volumetric results, the relationship established between the three buildings is stablished by its materiality. They are made with the same brick, in a way that they look all to be part of the same family but with different architectonical and urban qualities. This material will be applied in a different and special ways each time, using different masonry bonds, details and tectonics.

The aim is to achieve a certain coherence, an image that is contemporary and timeless at the same time, and that will instinctively belong to the location. The ambition of this project lies in forming an up-to-date image as a landmark for the user and the visitor.

Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina - Exterior Photography, Brick
Tjalkstraat. Image © Stijn Bollaert

Project gallery

See allShow less

Project location

Address:Antwerp, Belgium

Click to open map
Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Traction Stations Bravo 2 / Van Belle Medina" 15 Feb 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/956820/traction-stations-bravo-2-van-belle-medina> ISSN 0719-8884

You've started following your first account!

Did you know?

You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.