T Offices
For the development of their new company building on the Evolis business park, Tonickx set up a construction team together with Dedeyne Construct and Vincent Van Duysen Architects. Everyone shares the same ambition, namely the realization of a qualitative total design. The building program existed of an office part, combined with a more industrial production unit and a warehouse. The combination of both programs created a challenge both on a technical level as well as on a design level.
For the organization of the outdoor space, a clear division between both functions, created by separate entrances, each with their own distinct design and character. Once you enter the building, the separation is discarded, regarding both the internal organization and the design.
The building is conceived as an industrial concrete structure, in which the program is atypically stacked on three building levels. The more industrial activities are logically placed on the lower levels. The offices are divided over three floors, with the representative part of the offices positioned on the top floor. In this way, a horizontal layering is created in the building, characterized by a massive plinth (consisting of two floors) as a carrier for a light top part. The division between the two parts is created by a massive, image defining canopy. This procedure creates a strong architectural expression, but at the same time it distances the above offices from their industrial environment, so they are characterized by wide panoramic views, adjoining terraces and green roofs visually continuing in the surrounding landscapes.
In the interior design we face a confrontation, with the more tactile office furniture being used as a structuring element within the industrial concrete structure.
Also in the treatment of the facades we find a layered concept. The steel grid, used both on the lower as on the higher part, are applied in front of the concrete façade, the windows as well as for enclosing patio's. This results in a diffuse façade, that gradually reveals the permeability of the building.
