The Felix
The Service Center Gentbrugge, designed by Paul Felix and situated on the edge of the Gentbrugse Meersen, consists of three buildings that are meticulously linked in a composition that gives each building autonomy while also allowing them to interact with the space created between them.
The transformation proposes interventions that transform the character of the site from an administrative building to an urban building where encounters between different users are the focal point. Each building is crowned with an extension - a dance hall, office space, and rooftop playground. Inside the building, all parts of the program are given an address to a public circulation space. The library serves as the pivot of the ground floor and is surrounded by open service counters that facilitate interaction between different users. A fourth building, the performance hall, is added to complete the composition, enclosing a courtyard along with the adjacent buildings.
New concrete facade elements are arranged in a rhythm that aligns with the existing building's cadence. The slender panels curve according to a tectonic logic that embodies the new construction phase. The design puts radical trust in the accommodating and generous spaciousness that the buildings offer, and extends it into a new ensemble.
"...And the police meets the arts"
Concrete buildings from the 1970s are often dismissed as gray, dreary structures, to be demolished as soon as possible. Lightweight extensions in wood, steel, and glass frequently amplify this perception further. The design for De Felix—a multifunctional cluster that welcomes schoolchildren, users of the academy, the library, the police, and city administration—consciously chooses to ‘build on’ its concrete past. The concrete is not ‘cleaned up,’ but rather its weathering is embraced.
By viewing the various hues of the concrete, the varied surface treatments and the many forms that the structure takes on as a rich set of tools, we can reverse the negative perception. Variations of the concrete columns, façade panels, and beams are thoughtfully added. The old and new are unmistakably related. The new elements revisit the rhythm of the existing structures while introducing softer edges and lines. The buildings are topped up and extended, as if the original design is being further developed. A new theater hall, featuring a load-bearing concrete façade, is seamlessly woven into the site.
The transformation follows a strong circular approach, preserving and reusing as much of the existing as possible. The result is a building that not only respects the value of the original architecture, but is also prepared for the needs of the future.
