DE SMET VERMEULEN ARCHITECTEN - ANTWERPEN (LINKEROEVER)

IGLO Kinderdagverblijf

De Smet Vermeulen architects built the IGLO children’s day-care centre on one of the development plots. Together with the other buildings in this inner room, this centre is intended to bridge the scale difference between the high-rise buildings and the adjoining garden district. The architects devoted particular attention to the roof landscape, since this is what is visible from the surrounding tower blocks. The roof of the IGLO day-care centre – a green roof planted with a variety of motifs – is an arch that spans the elongated building. At the highest point of the curve, the roof projects out over the public space. This shelter brings about a generous transition between public and private. The sloping and projecting roof means the activities of the day-care centre are closely integrated with the collective life of the street.

According to the principals, a children’s daycare centre must always be closed off from the street to prevent passers-by looking inside. In this design, however, this requirement is given an additional dimension. Each set of two rooms is arranged around a patio that, in turn, makes contact with the street.

An overarching, urban planning master plan reconciles the different scales of the buildings with each other and provides the impetus for a renewal of the in-between city on the Left Bank. The IGLO day-care centre translates the master plan into a powerful form that creates a bridge between the rugged high-rises and the low-rise garden district. The materials also contribute to the balancing effect. The façade elements increase in size towards the top: tiles on the plinth followed by fibre-cement sheets that become larger and more irregular the higher up the building climbs. While these materials are a response to the ruggedness of the setting, their perfect finish ensures that the architecture still relates to the smaller-scale fabric of the garden district.

Author: Katrien Embrechts ans Esther Jacobs. This text has been published in the Architecture Review Flanders N°11. Embedded Architecture.