51N4E | Congress and Heritage Centre

Fuente: 51N4E

Fotografía: Gilbert Fastenaekens



congress & heritage centre

The LAMOT brewery, since its origins in 1922, has been part of a continuous process of extension and demolition, a process of straightforward commercial reasoning whereby redundant parts are torn down without any emotion and newly needed infrastructures are simply joined onto the existing core – an unintentional lesson in straightforward reasoning. During the process we eagerly learned from this logic, re-employing it for the future development of Lamot, a mix of congress facilities and cultural amenities.

Reconverting this awkward giant into a public building brought to the fore new standards of accessibility, orientation, light and views. It entails action – a surgical operation – on an urban scale. We proposed slitting open the building’s first floor: a calculated internal explosion, leaving no doubt about the future ambition of Lamot.

Link al proyecto completo en 51N4E



Ficha del Proyecto

Location:

Mechelen, BE

Invited competition:

2000

Completion:

2005

Client:

City of Mechelen

51N4E:

project definition, preliminary & final design, follow up execution

Project Team:

Johan Anrys, Freek Persyn, Peter Swinnen, Nele Stragier, Anneleen Sterckx, Bob De Wispelaere

Consultants:

Heidi de Nijn, Bart De Baere & Wouter Davids (cultural programme), Meertens Steffens (management), Bob van Reeth

Structural engineer:

De Smet, Verlinden & Van Stayen

Technical engineer:

IRS

Calculation:

Willemen

Programme:

Congress& heritage centre, retail, restaurant 

Built Surface:

6.600 m²

Construction cost:

10.000.000 €

Photography:

Gilbert Fastenaekens