Motstraat Offices
Mechelen
Belgium
An empty corner plot in a new business park sits alongside a canal in the periphery of the city of Mechelen. Our design for a modestly sized office building of about three thousand square metres takes advantage of this location. We raise the building half a floor to maximise vistas to the landscape and minimise cut and fill operations. This creates room for a half-sunken car park underneath, featuring natural ventilation and ample daylight.
The building is accessed through two distinct entrances. A short ramp slopes down half a level for cars to reach the car park. At the canal-side the landscape is raised to provide a more formal approach to the raised ground floor: from here one can get views of the canal over the adjacent street.
Structural Warmth
The elevated ground floor effectively functions as a sort of “bel étage”. It sits on the concrete parking structure, which emerges like a half-exposed podium from the landscape. This solid base provides the foundation for the lightweight wooden structure of the upper floors: a straightforward orthogonal grid composed of cross-laminated timber beams and columns. The use of CLT for the structural system contributes to the sustainable nature and carbon-saving properties of the building. The wooden surfaces and columns provide a soothing character to the interiors, infusing them with a warm zen-like calm.
The technological properties of the wooden beams allow for large spans, creating spacious interiors. Besides a minimal amount of thin columns, only one vertical concrete shaft containing the lift penetrates the open plan, providing lateral stability. We banish most services and technical installations to the two long edges of the building. Hence we create a floor plan with an expansive central space that can accommodate various layouts and programmes, flanked by two strips of necessary facilities such as fire stairs, mechanical equipment and bathrooms. The latter make up a thickened facade zone, which can be put to use to modulate climate conditions. By contrast, the end elevations are fully glazed with floor to ceiling windows to welcome in the natural surroundings of the canal and the lush green garden on the plot.
This simple and effective layout is further enriched by the introduction of a patio which brings light and exterior space deep into the building. At the ground floor this atrium carves out a covered, intimate entrance. At the top floor there is an outdoor terrace over the whole width of the building, from where there are long distance views over the canal towards the low-rise outskirts of Mechelen.
Design concepts
