hof (noun) – 1. open area by a house or enclosed by houses
2. central point of a farm or garden
3. residence and entourage of a nobleman
2. central point of a farm or garden
3. residence and entourage of a nobleman
Stuffed in-between the XIX century net of Sint-Amandsberg rowhouses and a colliding layout of Groot Begijnhof Sint-Elisabeth the byproduct site offers a calm enclosure in the context of unique heritage, which invites to reflect on what “hof” could mean in the modern day.
Through the broken perimeter The New Hof puts at the central spot the self-equating yet strong dichotomy of Nature as wild garden and Human as cohousing tower. The form of the latter allows nature to permeate through ground level public space and becomes more present hovering above. Enclosing structures frame this relation to pan out directly in-between each other and provide supporting space for work, services and culture.
Placed intimately hidden, with only 2 entrances, the site could have gone overlooked on the city scale, yet it communicates it’s presence through the tower language. Additionally, the relation with the context is achieved through form cut-outs creating passages under overhangs in the dense circumstances, which geometrically draw on the shapes of neighboring pitched roofs.
The tectonic expression of the “nobleman tower” consists of the concrete communication core and overhanging slabs on reflective amber-gold colored fiber tension rods accompanied by non-constructional verticals. The façade articulation and rod section depends on the orientation allowing and reflecting the right amount of light inside. The perimeter forms are made from steel and glass casted together. Polished, it reflects the wild garden making it’s extent boundary-less by paradox.
