BacLac
Bruges
Building renovation and its doubling in height
to create energy-positive offices
[ATELIER] CAUMES
The strategy for increasing the office space at this company headquarters has been to add height to the building instead of demolishing it. Four pilasters at the four corners of the original orthogonal plot support the new superstructure and house the vertical circulations and fluids. The erstwhile fifth facade, which held the technical spaces, is now home to conference rooms and eating areas with extensive exposure to the exterior. The composition is crowned by a terrace sheltered under a photovoltaic pergola. Together with the set of nine geothermal probes under the parking area, this 330 m2 structure helps make this renovated building energy-positive.
The existing structure, which dates back to the 1980s, forms part of a group of 9 buildings located in a vast office park.
Construction
Construction began with cleaning the building and removing the glass curtain walls, followed by pouring the foundations, which was necessitated by the doubling of the surface area, and by the fact that the added height is self-supporting. The lift, the technical conduits, and the stairways will be affixed to the facade.
The newly added, rectangular stories rest atop the original octagonal base. The two shapes are connected by the four pilasters that make up the superstructure.
