Standaertsite

Ledeberg, a suburb of Ghent, is an area with clear boundaries. Its outlines are demarcated by railways, main roads and viaducts. Within these boundaries lies a fabric of narrow streets along which the façades of the workmen’s houses in rigidly arranged terraces form the dividing line between the private and public domains. The small scale of both these spheres is a characteristic feature of the neighbourhood. There is barely any room for pavements in the streets, let alone any purpose apart from traffic. Because the houses are so small, however, the street is often claimed by children playing, street parties and/or DIY projects. This creates an appealing image of the urban street, but it is equally a symptom of the lack of public space in Ledeberg.

The Standaert site is just the kind of low-threshold meeting-place that the neighbourhood needed. This site is in the middle of a street block at the heart of the district. Until a few years ago it was home to the DIY shop run by the Standaert family, for decades a haven for self-builders from Ghent and its surroundings. The growth in competition from large chain stores on nearby arterial roads brought the firm to bankruptcy. Both the local authority and residents saw that the place had potential for the neighbourhood. Ghent City Council purchased the land and subsequently established a participatory project for temporary occupation, thereby testing out possible uses for the site. Under the supervision of BUUR, a multidisciplinary office specialising in urbanism, this expanded into a widely supported master plan and an meticulously focused design brief.

The response to this brief was produced by ae, Carton 123 and murmuur architecten. From the existing buildings, they carefully selected elements that could be reinterpreted in the context of the new function of the site. The former sawmill, a small building at right-angles to the site and concealed in the midst of the varied collection of sheds that once constituted the shop, was given a leading role to play. Once the other buildings had been demolished, it emerged as a centrally-located pavilion. A tunnel divides the building into two unequal parts and forms a link between the open spaces on either side. On the ground floor are a bicycle repair workshop and a café, both with large windows that emphasise the openness of the place. The woodwork of the outer façade incorporates benches that make it immediately clear that one’s welcome is not conditional upon ordering food or drink. On the first floor, a range of neighbourhood groups share two more intimate multipurpose rooms under the upgraded trusses of the renovated ridge roof.

In the corner of the site, a canopy made of recycled trusses from the demolished sheds is suspended from sturdy concrete beams. Its corner position, suspended roof and hardened ground surface create a place where it seems anything is possible and nothing is obligatory. It is just one of the many outdoor spaces that alternate harmoniously with each other in the landscape design by Atelier Arne Deruyter. Artworks by Marc Nagtzaam on the blank walls flanking the entrances draw attention to the green open space in the otherwise unbroken line of the street frontage. Like the garden walls around the site, they are overgrown with climbing plants. The sign left over from the Standaert shop in Hoveniersstraat is given a second life and now indicates the entrance to the site.

- Petrus Kemme

This project is published in Flanders Architectural Review N°14. When Attitudes Take Form