City Hall Harelbeke, Civic Building Belgium, Marktstraat property photos, Belgian architecture design
Harelbeke Town Hall, Belgium
Belgian Civic Building design by Dehullu Architects
Belgian Town Hall Building
Design: Dehullu-Architecten
photo : Tim Van de Velde
27 Mar 2012
The Town Hall of Harelbeke
The Town Hall of Harelbeke, Belgium by Dehullu-Architects
The works that have been conducted are part of a masterplan that was developed in 2007.
Due to the growing needs of the city services, the Town Hall was looking for an extension of their site. In order to anticipate these growing needs a masterplan was developed. In this plan the historic site of a 19th century flax-factory was incorporated in the new site of the Town Hall. Redevelopping the new site, a new entrance building was designed, centrally located between two existing historically valuable buildings.
picture : Tim Van de Velde
The new entrance building links it’s adjacent buildings. None of the floors of these neighbouring buildings were corresponding. The challenge was to make all of the floors accessible for wheelchair users. Therefore the location of elevators and staircases was very carefully thought of.
pictures : Tim Van de Velde
Since it’s central location in the city, the new entrance building was designed to be a contemporary ‘landmark’ on the main road of Harelbeke. Therefore the cladding of the facade and the roof was executed in a dirt repelling white material. The material is a mineral substance of the brand Corian. It is the first time in Belgium that this material is used as exterior cladding.
Furthermore, part of the historical flax-factory was renovated. The walls and roof of this part were carefully preserved and restored according to the recommendations of the institute of cultural heritage.
pictures : Tim Van de Velde
On the inside of this historical part, the pattern of the tiled floors refer to a weaving technique, to make the link with the history of this building.
Sustainability was an important aspect in the building process. No cooling was installed in this office building. Due to the high degree of isolation, the use of windowblinds and the white colour of the cladding, overheating of the building can be avoided for the Belgian mild summer climate.
In a next phase the central spot in the site will be transformed into an atrium, in order to centralise all of the city services so the current and future needs of the civilians can easily be satisfied.
Bert Dehullu, engineer-architect.
pictures : Tim Van de Velde
Harelbeke Town Hall – Building Information
Architect: Dehullu – Architects
Address: Marktstraat 29, 8530 Harelbeke, Belgium
Construction year: 2010-11
Surface: +- 1000 m²
Harelbeke Town Hall images / information from Dehullu – Architects
Dehullu-Architecten are based in Harelbeke, western Belgium
Location: Marktstraat 29, 8530 Harelbeke, Belgium, western Europe
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