The Antwerp Port House, Belgium
The Port House designed by Zaha Hadid Architects renovates and extends a derelict fire station into a new headquarters building for the Port of Antwerp in Belgium (Europe’s second largest shipping port).
These three key principles define the design’s composition of new and old: a new volume that ‘floats’ above the old building, respecting each of the old facades and completing the verticality of the original design’s unrealized tower.
The client requirements for an ‘activity based office’ are integrated within the design, with related areas such as the restaurant, meeting rooms and auditorium located at the center of the upper levels of the existing building and the bottom floors of the new extension. The remaining floors more remote from the center, comprise open plan offices.
The old fire station’s central courtyard has been enclosed with a glass roof and is transformed into the main reception area for the new Port House. From this central atrium, visitors access the historic public reading room and library.
The new extension's façade is a glazed surface that ripples like waves and reflects the changing tones and colors of the city’s sky.
The port House is nominated for the PLAN AWARD 2018.
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