The extension is built next to the old Town Hall on a lot with a generous view on the scenic Sambre valley. The ambitions were to amplify the public usage of the site and to preserve the ring of linden trees at its limits. Rather than to simply lay on the land, the building hovers thanks to an impressive cantilever structure – only the cafeteria is in contact with the ground and can therefore be used for events taking place in the park. A slight slope guides the public to the reception from where the different services are easily found, being strategically located in each of the three branches of the plan.
This project shows the capacity of contemporary architecture to simply and gently be part of a rural and heritage context through its horizontality, the sobriety and abstraction of its façades and the readability of its plan. At a greater scale, the project has seized the opportunity to redefine the bordering parking and streets while giving the citizens a new park.
