The project occupies the interior of a historical city block where buildings from different identities and periods coexist. There are two industrial buildings and a convent that has been used as a hospital. The new building is positioned in order to bond together each of these structures and to define new external spaces.

© Tim Van de Velde

Architects: Aires Mateus

Location: Tournai, Belgium

Authors: Manuel and Francisco Aires Mateus

Project Leader: Jorge P Silva

Area: 7010.0 m2

Project Year: 2017

Photographs: Tim Van de Velde

Collaborators: Susana Rodrigues, Joana Carmo Simões, Vânia Fernandes, Sara Nobre, Sofia Paradela, Inês Gulbenkian, Bernardo Sousa Isabel Sousa, Aiden Thornhill, Théophile Legrain, Antoine Pruvost, Charles Cossement
Engineering: Tradeco

Constructor: Tradeco

Client: Université Catholique de Louvain

Location Plan

© Tim Van de Velde

From the architect. The project occupies the interior of a historical city block where buildings from different identities and periods coexist. There are two industrial buildings and a convent that has been used as a hospital. The new building is positioned in order to bond together each of these structures and to define new external spaces.

© Tim Van de Velde

© Tim Van de Velde

Stairs Diagram

All the existing buildings are connec...