KBC Office
We were asked to restore the existing building of KBC Bank. The building, mainly used as a computer and data centre, was not at all suitable to fulfil its new function as an office building. The massive and dark gate building, surrounded by a pleasant outdoor space in the middle of trees and water, was completely turned inwards. Bringing nature into the building was hence our main goal. A deep incision in the volume allowed us to arrange the comfort by passive systems and let air, light and vegetation in on the inside.
One of the main reasons of this building’s renovation was to offer a better working environment to the employees of KBC Bank. Instead of demolishing the whole building, which would have led to too many costs and a lot of waste material, the existing structure and roof were given a new appearance. By accentuating natural light, ventilation during the night and openness towards the exterior, the project becomes an example of sustainable architecture. It shows in which measure a simple, carefully considered renovation can improve our global building environment.
First and foremost, a lot of attention was given to the use of passive systems to arrange the inner environment. Especially ventilation during the night ensures cooling and the chimney in the heart of the building is the core element of that system. The warm air is exported to the outside and the cold air is sucked inside through windows, covered with grids, which open automatically at night time. Thanks to the inertia of the bare concrete ceiling, the coolness is stored and released during the day.
To avoid overheating and the blinding effect of direct sunlight, automatically controlled vertical blinds are positioned on the western and eastern façades. Combined to night ventilation they reduce to a minimum the need for mechanical cooling enabling great energy savings on a long-term perspective.
Furthermore, the open plan offers great flexibility in terms of organization, and facilitates future adaptation to new programmatic needs. In terms of acoustics, all the indoor walls are made of woodwool cement slabs, as well as the minimally planned lowered ceilings. Per work place the acoustics are individually ensured by applying separate baffles in which the necessary illumination is integrated. The major asset of the site is the green park around the building. The building is also integrated better in its environment by letting the green site literally enter into the heart of the building by means of a sixteen meter high vertical indoor garden. That indoor green wall also acts as a buffer, damping the noise that can otherwise be a nuisance in an open office.
