Woonzorgcentrum GZA Kiel

For the non-profit organisation Gasthuis Zusters Antwerpen, Xaveer De Geyter Architects designed a residential care project with 120 rooms and 45 assisted living units at Het Kiel in Antwerp. At an urban planning level, the architects accept the project’s large scale. Two ‘boomerang-shaped’ volumes are set opposite each other. One of these completes the corner of a residential street block, while the other opens out decisively towards the grounds of a former monastery. The buildings make no attempt to mirror the smaller scale of the surrounding residential neighbourhoods. On the contrary, the project seems to connect with the architecture of the larger housing projects in Kiel Park, near the Tentoonstellingswijk and the adjacent Beerschot-Wilrijk football stadium. The reality of Antwerp’s twentieth-century belt is not denied but enhanced. In this heterogeneous fabric, the project seeks a form that brings clarity to larger collective structures and spaces. Rather than forming a boundary to the park, the volume of the residential care home allows it to extend to the edge of the city block. The buildings are organised with the same vigour as their siting. An efficient, no-nonsense approach is legible within the plans. All the rooms are located on the outer façade of the ‘boomerang’ and embrace the various living areas, thereby enjoying views over the park. (...)

Jan Vermeulen - Excerpt from Flanders Architectural Review N°13. This Is a Mustard Factory