The site forms part of the market area: the existing articulation of the place funnels into the main market square. This spatial configuration is followed by notable landmarks such as St. Walburga's Church, House Cambier, House Margaretha van Parma, the Gothic monastery complex with its chapel, and the Bishop's Quarter.

In line with these "mental lines," three superimposed volumes evolve — zeppelins or airships — which clearly delineate the existing articulation and dynamically emphasize the flowing movements and connections to the town center. These lines also act as regulating guides for the treatment of the site's ground floor articulation, particularly the slope toward the former Scheldt riverbed — a defining feature of the location.

Our lived environment has evolved into a media-driven vision of noiseless perfection and is increasingly becoming unitarily technological. The aim of the Droesbeke project is, therefore, to create perfect coherence between sophisticated, mysterious technological capsules and an architecture with the highest possible degree of tactility — rooted in corporeality, vanitas, and atmosphere — allowing both geeks and farmers to feel at home, actively countering segregation and elitism. As a result, it is not a consumerist paradise but a genuine common ground.

This project is not a mere accumulation of buildings, but rather a square that exists in the twilight zone between city and building — not a capsular square, but an open, organic structure. It is not a generic square, but a specific one with a strong identity and a clear history.

The exterior cladding of the square's perimeter is simple and uniform, made of flush-jointed brick with openings set in a strict pattern that aligns with the functions behind. Entertainment unfolds entirely within the square, within the urban enclosure.

The inner façade of the perimeter — facing the square — is a more sophisticated elevation: it can be transparent or opaque, open or closed; it radiates or absorbs, depending on necessity and function. Roller shutters, installed in a strict rhythm, mediate the interaction between public and private space. On the terraces, outward-rolling shutters ensure privacy as needed.

The three urban echelons are connected from outside to inside via the urban fabric. The openings in the walls act as X-ray views of the site beyond. The key exterior corner points, which define the site, are projected perpendicularly onto the outer wall as vertical cuts that entirely interrupt the façade. These are physical passages — alleyways from the square perimeter to the inner square. Vertical circulation elements (stairs and elevators) are linked to these alleys.

These cuts are not covered, except where they intersect with the airships. The rear corners of the airships are projected perpendicularly onto the outer wall as three-storey incisions connected to the upper structure. The defining interior corner points — external to the building but significant to the site — are projected perpendicularly onto the façade as two-storey cuts that link back to the ground level.

To support the fragility of the center — both in contrast to the monumental surroundings and as an institutional vulnerability — the center is conceived as a destabilized wooden canopy. Its reception area and main entrance are located along the central passage toward the main market square. The entire ground floor is glazed, creating a maximum visual relationship between the inner courtyard, the center, and the surroundings.

Human beings are visual creatures — with a greedy gaze — and can thus experience the three-part division of the space. Looking in, and looking out.

The RVV Center is organized around a routing system that spirals around the auditorium and reflects physical impressions from the Ronde. The auditorium itself is located underground. Exceptionally, the parking area may serve as additional event space.

The first floor of Volume A is an extension of the triangle that anchors into the building and houses remnants of the museum and administrative functions. These spaces are accessed from the center via two pedestrian bridges over the passage from the Rondeplein to the market square.

The residential units are always positioned between the defensive perimeter and the Rondeplein — between the exterior and the interior. A variety of living units is provided — large and small, with diverse architectural qualities, both horizontal and vertical (duplex) — enabling villagers, long-time city dwellers, suburban migrants, nomads, and new urbanites to find a fitting environment.

Access to each unit is organized so that it can be reached directly from the public network, making the units suitable for alternative functions beyond housing. Each residential unit includes an outdoor space, oriented according to its position — to the east, south, or west — facing the Rondeplein, the Meerspoortplein, the market square, or the Scheldt.

Within the upper structures, a number of lightweight, fluid, expansive rooftop residences are situated. These are equipped with exceptional views and large south-facing terraces, and include every modern amenity.

The three rooftop structures are finished with full-height frosted glass walls on the northern sides — and elsewhere as needed — to ensure mutual privacy. Toward the terraces and specific view axes, transparent glass sliding walls are combined with mobile balloon-silk screens. These ultra-light screens slide behind the frosted walls, leaving zones open to maintain interaction with the Rondeplein.

The square is constantly changing — it dresses up, it transforms. It evolves from lighthouse to beacon, from ballroom to cinema, from city square to living room…

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^CREDITS

Status: Ontwerp 2000
Team: Frank Delmulle, Kathy Vanhulle, Frederik Tomme
Stabiliteit: Ruud Koetsier, ABT/Lipsky