Community centre, Merksplas BE

This centre is a house and living room for the community of Merksplas. This house, this building, by its form and charisma, must be tailored to its public task. Openness and accessibility are of major importance for the community centre. On the Leopoldstraat there is a spacious square that provides access to the centre. On the right-hand side of this square is a café with a terrace. An archway on the left-hand side provides access to the car park. The main and secondary timber trusses are made of natural pine. Their rhythm and size provide dimension and scale to the rooms and spaces. They strip the building of an abstract anonymity and make the spaces measurable and understandable. The large market square is covered by a glass dome, which is supported by a pair of diagonal main rafters, between which secondary trusses rest on the roof of the rooms. Timber lateral trusses support this roof. The rather closed rooms receive their daylight through skylights between these lateral trusses.


Architect: Herman Zeinstra
Team: M. Fredriks, J. Rombouts
Number: 0303
Status: Not build
Year: 2003 - 2003
Client: Gemeente Merksplas