Student Accommodation

This location on the outskirts of Ghent is characterised by large-scale elements. The student residence is stretched into a solid volume that probes the boundaries of the site, thereby acting as a powerful player in the rough-hewn surroundings. It is intended to be a genuine home: an oasis amidst a sea of concrete and infrastructure. While the residence looks like a solid building block from the outside, the introduction of the courtyard typology allows for the creation of an intimate and textured inner sanctum. The surrounding spaces are orientated towards the greenery, while the roof folds inwards, thereby creating different scales on the outside and inside. Large arches delineate the public plinth, and the accommodation level reveals itself as a sober grid of windows. On a nearby site, team member Havana Architecten is developing an intriguing pair of sister buildings with a similar programme.