robbrecht en daem architecten + marie josé van hee: market hall in ghent

‘market hall in ghent’ by robbrecht en daem architecten, ghent, belgiumimage © klaas vermaas

after years of slow degradation, the historical city center of ghent was occupied by a desolate parking lot surrounded by three gothic spires, a situation that prompted the city to hold a competition to re-activate the space. local practice robbrecht en daem architecten in collaboration with marie-josé van hee architectenproposed somewhat of their own program, going beyond the competition brief to not only provide event space for the public but also reinstate the presence of the traditional architecture. occupying a site of 24,000 m2, the new ‘market hall’ mathematically derives it profile from the adjacent city halland assumes a height equivalent to its neighboring structures – always lower than the surrounding towers as a way to indirectly call attention to their presence.the overall form recalls the vernacular of the area and time, clad in natural wood tiles covered by a thin layer of glass that subtly reflects the sky on the surface. four large concrete columns hoist the steep-gabled canopy structure above the ground, creating a deep interior space lit from hundred of opensilvers in the roof plan. the second level below contains a market place next to a green area, integrated with the multi-use hall above. rainwater is collectedand reused with the program below, lending to a sustainable construction of local material and natural resource collection.

new walk through the center to the market hallimage © petra decouttere

two-storey market hall: event space on the top, market and restaurants on the bottom next to a green areaimage © klaas vermaas

interior of steep-pitched roofimage © klaas vermaas

image © marc de blieck

site plan

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elevation

project info:

location: historical city centre of ghent, belgiumprogram: construction of a market hall, bar/restaurant, infrastructure, squares & parkarchitects: robbrecht en daem architecten & marie-josé van hee architectencollaborators: jan baes, tom broes, bert callens (project architect), katrien cammers, axel clissen, mattias deboutte, petra decouttere, arne deruyter, linde everaerd,trice hofkens, gert jansseune, daniël libens, wim menten (project architect), carmen osten, filip reumers, sofie reynaert, miriam rohde, johannes robbrecht, marilù sicoli, gert swolfs, pieter vanderhoydonck, kathy vermeeren, caroline voet, wim walschapdesign and construction years: 1996-2012client: city of ghent, vvm de lijn & tmvwstructural engineering: bas, dirk jaspaertspecial techniques engineering: studiebureau boydensinfrastructural engineering: technum-tractebel engineeringlandscape architect: wirtz international