The office building that was to be renovated was destined by Electrabel to serve as a call centre for the region of Flanders.

The building could be considered a typical example of a sixties office building. Time, however, had caused several serious problems, mainly in the area of the building physical situation of the outer walls and the technical installations. The situation of the polyvalent structure appeared to very good. For the new function of the building a landscape setting was chosen.

Right from the start a close collaboration with the engineers of Technum was set up in order to determine the most suitable concepts for the renovation: the co-ordination of architectural and technical aspects in that particular space demanded an integrated approach. As a consequence the different possibilities for the new HVAC-installation were linked with different architectural concepts.

As a ‘landmark’ the architectural commission was very interesting. The building determines the sky-line of the surrounding area. Formally it seemed interesting to unite the technical rooms on the roof in a set-back volume under a strong canopy line. In this way the building volume got a strong formal termination against the sky.
The large continuous wall surfaces which are composed as curtain walls with a horizontal accent contribute to this notion. For the blind glazing a subtle changing dotted pattern was thought up, which gives the wall surfaces, under the influence of changing outside light, a slightly changing view and in this way brings the building to life.