De Brabbel

Project De Brabbel, published by Renson.

Location: Antwerp, Belgium

Category: Nurseries

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Growing up with art The design of the “De Brabbel” crèche has been conceived as an overall concept, in which architecture, the interior and the integration of art using Digital Print HPL panels from Abet Laminati, are inextricably linked. The construction project for the crèche provides the City of Antwerp (B) with the opportunity to redress the shortage of day care facilities. In 2008, an architectural competition was organized that was won by the firm of architects 'cuypers & Q architecten'.

The assigned site was a large inner area in Antwerp, bordered by the Regentstraat, the Constitutiestraat and the Wetstraat, where a crèche previously existed. However, the space available was not used efficiently. In fact, there was only an old shed with wooden rafters. The idea of integrating the wooden construction was also reviewed, but the necessary modification work was considered to be too expensive. However, the existing building did provide the inspiration for including a lot of wood in the new project. The architects also decided to retain as much greenery as possible for the young occupants by including the adjacent allotments in their design for the crèche.

Childish spontaneity The design of the building is based on a few simple lines, similar to the way in which a child draws a house. The building provides accommodation for eight communities: four for babies, and four for toddlers. They are distributed along a central corridor. The age of the young occupants varies from 3 months to 2.5 years old, and in principle, they progress from the baby community to the toddler community. Every day, 112 children attend; up to 134 attend in exceptional circumstances.

'cuypers & Q architecten' rounds off the design with two multi-purpose rooms, a buggy parking area in the entrance hall, an underground bicycle shed, a consulting room, office, a reception, and the necessary service space for the laundry, kitchen, store room, etc. Above the main entrance to the crèche, on the first floor, you can find the changing room, a cafeteria and kitchen for the personnel, as well as a room dedicated to parenting that can also be used for neighbourhood activities. On the 2nd and 3rd floor, you can find a residential unit. The flat areas of the sawtooth-shaped roof are designed as a green roof, and thus provide the adjacent homes with a nice view. In addition, solar panels are also installed.

Art that benefits children 'cuypers & Q architecten' also included an art project in the submitted proposal (i.e. an art object is assigned a function in the construction project), and this was enthusiastically received by the client AG Vespa. In this dossier, AG Vespa acts as the delegated client for AG KOP (‘Autonoom Gemeentebedrijf voor Kinderopvang Antwerpen’). The signs positioned in and around the building were not simply conceived as graphical objects, but as an art project integrated in the architecture. The artist, Roeland Tweelinckx, was recruited for this purpose. As a father of young children, Roeland is familiar with crèches. He regards crèches as being ‘busy’ places, and wanted to install a sense of tranquillity into them via his work. Roeland Tweelinckx favours an austere, realistic approach. Animals could be the theme for addressing the various residential units inside the building and on the garden side. He conjured up the image of cuddly (animal) toys in a toy storage box that was suggested as a theme.

The artist opted for a two-dimensional black/white reproduction, and preferred a contrast effect instead of colour. This was also a new experience for the artist: on the one hand, because it relates to applied art, and on the other hand, because he had to create in a virtual environment, for a building that did not yet exist.

His creation really appealed to the decision-makers, so that the art project from Roeland Tweelinckx was subsequently used as a house style for the ‘De Brabbel’ crèche. The integration of the art project was partly financed by the VIPA (Vlaams Instituut voor Persoonsgebonden Aangelegenheden).

Abet Laminati integrates art The Digital Print HPL panels from Abet Laminati provided the ideal solution for integrating the creations from artist Roeland Tweelinckx. He drew the original images before converting them digitally into a graphical file that Abet Laminati could print digitally. The quality of the Digital Print HPL panels enables them to be used indoors as well as outdoors. In order to address the communities, each of the figures covers two panels. The figures are present in the building, along the corridor, as well as outside, on the garden side. In the crèche, the animal images are reflected in the glass surface between the living area and the corridor. Etched glass walls complete the overall picture of this extremely characteristic ‘animal kingdom’ that reaches its climax at the entrance to ‘De Brabbel’.

For the wall that leads the way to the crèche on the Regentstraat, Roeland Tweelinckx created a large abstract composition in black-and-white, composed of several layers placed on top of each other, with each layer containing a pixelated image of an animal. Whoever takes the time to review this, will discover a large number of different animals. Roeland Tweelinckx drew at least 500 of them, before creating the final image. This composition is spread across several MEG Digital Print HPL panels that are 8 mm thick. Thanks to the low expansion coefficient of the MEG façade panels, the joint width between the panels could be reduced to the panel thickness. In order to obtain panels with a Digital Print, the client must supply a “ready-to-print” digital file, whilst also taking account of the distribution plan across a number of façade panels. A major asset of the MEG Digital Print façade panels is the surface treatment that protects the underlying image from discolouration and fading as a result of being exposed to UV light. The standard dimensions for MEG Digital Print panels are 305 x 130 cm or 420 x 130 cm, and the panels can be supplied in thicknesses of 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 mm.

In the “De Brabbel” crèche, the signs have been prepared as an art project by using Digital Print technology, not only for the MEG HPL façade panels, but also for the Print HPL panels for the inside walls. The Digital Print HPL panels that have been used in the interior have a thickness of 0.9 mm and have been glued to chipboard or MDF. The Digital Print technology enables the designer to supply a digital file of the design to be obtained, such as, for example, an individual décor, a photo, a drawing, a floor plan, etc., via WE TRANSFER or on DVD/CD. Abet Laminati then takes care of the four-colour print and the production of the personalised laminate panel by integrating the digital print in the surface of the panel. This revolutionary Digital Print HPL laminate technology does not require a minimum print run and is thus extremely suitable for implementing one-off projects that require a personalised approach.

Overall concept 'Cuypers & Q architecten' and AG Vespa have allowed the design to develop into an overall concept, in which architecture, interior design and art are inextricably linked. Consequently, ‘De Brabbel’ is the ultimate reference for their most recent achievements.