Compagnie O Architecten bvba

Topsportschool Antwerp

Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde

TOPSPORTSCHOOL ANTWERP

Compagnie O Architects

ARCHITECTS
Compagnie O Architects

STUDY TECHNIQUES
Abetec NV

CLIENT
AG Vespa

CONTRACTOR
Democo NV

MANUFACTURERS
Artigo, Reynaers Aluminium, Foster, Koramic

STUDY STABILITY
Util Struktuurstudies CVBA

PHOTOGRAPHS
Tim Van De Velde

AREA
3120 m²

YEAR
2016

LOCATION
Antwerpen, Belgium

CATEGORY
Recreation & Training, Schools

Text description provided by architect.

The TSS, short for Topsportschool, is a meticulous spatial translation of a specific program. The daily timetable of the elite-students and coaches is rigorously scheduled.They move like targets, in Spartan efficiency, from one goal to the next.

Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde

Circulation between school and training is short, straightforward, unambiguous.

No time, neither space, to waste. The school facilitates these movements, seamlessly, swift and quick.

The young athlete is focused and narcissistic. This self-centered view is enhanced by a more communicative look at the other. Challenge and comparison makes the athlete sweat.

Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde

The TSS is permeated with unexpected inner views, reflective surfaces and voyeuristic spaces.

The building does not reveal its purpose, it merely exists on this awkward site, an abandoned military fortress, overgrown with greenery.

Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde

A sloped concrete base emerges from the soil, self-contained and obvious, slightly superior to its surroundings, revealing hardly anything at all.

On top of this solid soil hovers a sharp-edged mirror glass surface, reflecting and deflecting the scenery into scattered views.

Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde

It seems like the base and the glasshouse are in a paradoxical confrontation at first. We rather consider it as an oxymoron, it brings together two seemingly incompatible languages within one building, creating a tension we consider interesting.


Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde
Topsportschool Antwerp
© Tim Van De Velde


Topsportschool Antwerp
Level 1
Topsportschool Antwerp
Level 2
Topsportschool Antwerp
Floor Plan


Topsportschool Antwerp
Section

Compagnie O Architecten bvba
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Compagnie O Architecten bvba
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