Garages and Storage Facility on a Brutalist Campus

Paul Felix (1913–1981) constructed a remarkable campus in a brutalist language on the site of the Destelheide training centre: a monolith in precast concrete. His composition forms a stark contrast with the rural surroundings, a beautiful south-facing hillside overlooking the Brabant landscape. In this design for a storage facility with carport, the familiar protagonists once again take centre stage: brutalist concrete and a verdant topography. Dividing the programme into a warehouse and a carport enabled the creation of a balcony with panoramic views across the valley. Both sides are built in large stackable concrete blocks that also serve as retaining walls. A rhythm of deep and shallow bricks tapers upwards. Thanks to the relief, there are endless shifts in the graphic register. Within the two U-shapes, a light wooden infill completes the building figures.