Paardenkliniek Equinox

A black barn stands in the expansive agricultural landscape of Kasterlee. From a distance, it is reminiscent of a ranch that you might find in a place like Kentucky, although its contrasting white window frames and doorposts summon up associations from a different world, that of the black-tarred barns in Zeeland. The façade conceals a complex and very specific programme: a horse clinic.

The clients took no chances. Their previous building could no longer cope with the increasing demand for specialised care for horses. The new building needed to bring calm to the horses and their owners and fulfil the needs and wishes of both patients and carers. The clients spent years working on a list of tips and conditions for the construction of their new horse clinic: the routes taken by the animals, doctors and owners, where shortcuts had to be provided, which demarcation lines in the building had to be monitored, which materials were most agreeable to the horses, and so on.

The architects at osar were given a clearly formulated task, but themselves also spent several days in the horse clinic to experience the daily life of the place. They were also able to make use of the expertise they had acquired by designing various types of buildings for the care sector.

The infrastructure for treating the horses was fitted in logically and carefully beneath the two ridge roofs and behind the façades in black brick and tarred pine with joinery in white steel. The welcome offered is a crucial part of the care provided. There is a large car park where horse-owners can easily deliver their animals in trucks or trailers; an expansive entrance with a large canopy to make the unloading of the animal in rain and wind more comfortable; a reception and waiting rooms where owners can rest or keep track of the preparations for treatment.

The spacious stable passageway radiates light and order. Each box has a window with a view of the surroundings. There are separate reinforced stalls for the stallions and a double variant for a mare with a foal. Natural light penetrates throughout the clinic, partly through the opening in the ridge roof, but at certain places it only enters from directly above in order not to create too much distraction. A pleasant indoor climate is provided by floor heating beneath the anti-slip floor that muffles sound.

The clinic has such specialised facilities as a sterilisation room, recovery boxes and a clinical laboratory. Together with the well-prepared clients, the architects succeeded in organising the spaces in such a way that the internal routes are optimised and no unnecessary moves have to be made, and so that the necessary equipment is always on hand where it is needed. The operating theatre is not only equipped to provide the best possible care, but steps were provided to be able to look at the boxes from above and follow what is going on inside. A large window offers a view of the operating theatre from the upper floor, where doctors and trainees rest while on duty.

In appearance, the building is recognisably like a barn, and while it is based in part on the modular construction methods used for stables, it also accommodates a specific and complex programme on a limited floor area. The collaboration, choice of materials, natural light and well thought-out plans reflect the great care taken by both the client and the architects in the creation of this horse clinic.

- Bart Tritsmans

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