51N4E - STUDIO 2 BV

Buda Art Centre

Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin

BUDA ART CENTRE

51N4E

ARCHITECTS
51N4E

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
BAS 

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Johan Anrys, Freek Persyn, Peter Swinnen

TECHNICAL ENGINEERING
Studiebureau Boydens

DESIGN TEAM
Tine Cooreman, Aline Neirynck, Bob De Wispelaere, Karel Verstraeten, Jan Opdekamp, Joram Van den Brande, Marc-Achille Filliol, Chris Blackbee, Emmanuel Debroise

PHOTOGRAPHS
Filip Dujardin, Paul Steinbrück

AREA
4240.0 m²

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
Courtray, Belgium

CATEGORY
Exhibition Center

Text description provided by architect.

The last remaining textile factory on Buda Island - an area destined to become the cultural heart of the city - has been transformed into studios and exhibition spaces for artists in residence.

Buda Art Centre
© Paul Steinbrück
Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin

This large volume, situated in the middle of a city block, has been adapted through two main interventions.

The first hollows out a large void in the centre of the building, bringing daylight deep into the vast floor plan. This pentagonal void houses a public staircase that gives access to a diverse range of spaces on four levels:

a laboratory for manufacturing, multifunctional spaces of varying sizes and lighting conditions, music venues and a roof terrace.

Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin
Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin
Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin

The biggest part of the structure is reused. Besides saving resources, the reuse allows for a large cultural building within a limited budget.

The second intervention adds an open pavilion as an entrance hall from the street. Built from the yellow brick discovered in the original interior, this pavilion becomes the new facade of the complex: the tip of the iceberg. The pavilion itself functions as an antechamber, giving a foretaste of events inside.

The Buda Art Centre is a new type of cultural space. Making reference to its past, it remains a workshop of production. The materials and details make it an approachable space for all kinds of activities and users.

Buda Art Centre
© Paul Steinbrück
Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin
Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin

The warm palette of colours and the series of rather informal spaces invite people to appropriate and discover the building for their own production, exhibition, and casual interaction.

While the majority of the building is hidden from its surrounding context, the roof terrace provides a sudden confrontation with the city of Kortrijk.

Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin
Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin

The building is a tool to look, not an object to look at. It avoids becoming an image but instead creates an environment..


Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin
Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin
Buda Art Centre
© Filip Dujardin


Buda Art Centre
Plan
Buda Art Centre
Plan
Buda Art Centre
Plan
Buda Art Centre
Plan


Buda Art Centre
Section


Buda Art Centre
Situation

51N4E - STUDIO 2 BV
T +32 2 5035089
51N4E - STUDIO 2 BV
Rue du Progrès 80, 1030 Schaerbeek, Belgium