The client's grand design

As an important socio-economic and cultural player, the Administration of the Province of Namur groups together almost all of its services in a building to be constructed on its site in Salzinnes. By locating on the outskirts and on the banks of the Sambre rather than in a highly visible location in the city center, the Province of Namur is adopting a position that is both strong and sensitive, an expression of the vision it has of its role.

This location should constitute a pole of attraction on the scale of the city and allow the peripheral district to complement the center. It is therefore a question of creating a building capable of generating a deep affection for this new intellectual pole of Namur.

The image of a village heart, which reflects the rural character of the province and the symbiosis with nature, comes naturally to mind. It invites us to enjoy our five senses through art and culture.

The realization of the Administrative House of the Province of Namur (MAP) represents an important cost, not only financial but also environmental. The project thus aims to obtain the maximum of BREEAM credits while highlighting the limits of this approach, as well as the questions it raises. The project achieved a score of 93.53%, an 8.53 point margin above the "Outstanding" level.

 

Genius Loci
 

Located in the hollow of a meander of the Sambre River that surrounds it on its northwestern flank, the site of the new MAP is bordered to the northeast by the former Grand Séminaire, a masterful work of refined simplicity by Roger Bastin. Also to be noted to the southwest is the former Saint-Aubain School and to the southeast a group of 10-story housing blocks, a high-voltage power line, one of whose pylons partially encroaches on the site, and a secondary railway line giving access to the SNCB's Salzinnes Central Workshops.

The emphasis placed on urban agriculture in the tender specifications, in keeping with a centuries-old Namur tradition, brings an artistic and poetic dimension to the project. It leads to allocate the whole North-East part of the site, i.e. 3300 m², to gardens and vegetable growing activities, in continuity with the existing urban vegetable gardens. Botanical science and horticultural technology are combined here with the art of the garden, the vegetable garden, the orchard, the nursery, where forms, colors, smells, and flavors mingle with the singing of birds and the humming of insects, as well as with the play of light and shadow. Natural ventilation and lighting, plants and flowers, materials with the patina of time... everything in the project is part of this movement.

 

Implantation
 

The building forms a large rectangle of 106.2 m x 61.65 m. It is located as far as possible from the Sambre, outside the theoretical flood risk zones, at a good distance from the noise of the trains running along the other bank.

It is logically linked to the various possible access routes, whether it be Rue Henri Bodart to the east, the possible road to be created to the southwest along the Sambre, or the pedestrian bridge crossing the railroad tracks to the southeast.

Its location also provides the necessary breathing space for both the Grand Séminaire de Bastin and the buildings to the southwest.

The implantation according to the diagonal North-West / South-East allows an optimal orientation of the facades and the functions: the work and the carriage to the East, the reception and the protocol entrance to the South, the celebration to the West (with the village square used as a parking lot) and the dreaming or meditation spaces to the North.

The ensemble is thus naturally established, without unnecessary contortions, in the manner of a large farm or small village.

 

A village building organized around patios
 

Entirely built of wood and steel on two levels of 3.6 m high, the building is covered by a submerged roof serving as a water tower and topped by a photovoltaic sunshade.

The plan is organized around eight rectangular patios measuring 15.3 m x 11.25 m. Covered by opening greenhouse canopies, the patios bring fresh air into the building. Their white facades maximize the penetration of natural light, and the canopies open fully in the event of fire to transform the covered patios into outdoor spaces.

This plan layout allows for natural light and ventilation throughout the floors, allowing them to be used for a wide variety of programs or functions.

The limited two-level construction allows for fluid communication between all points of the building, thus promoting team spirit, the "New World of Work" and accessibility for PRM.

The first floor includes a friendly reception area, a cafeteria that can accommodate nearly 300 people, rooms for receiving visitors, a relaxation room and a sports room equipped with showers. A large workshop, storage areas and changing rooms for the maintenance staff will complete this complex.

The second floor will house most of the offices in different areas, but also spaces for concentration, various meeting rooms for teamwork, and relaxation areas for sharing convivial moments with colleagues.

The four facades, all made of wood, are composed of a very calm alternation of overhangs and floor-to-ceiling open windows (108 cm wide on the inside and 101.25 cm on the outside). Equipped with safety railings, the windows are openable and allow everyone to enjoy the view of the gardens.

 

The orthogonal grid
 

The plan is rigorously organized on a constructive grid of 1.35 m on each side. The orthogonal plan almost naturally induces an archetypal layout of the major traffic routes: the "Cardo" from North to South and the "Decumanus" from East to West, following the example of Roman cities. It is from the central square, which is at their intersection, that the activity spreads to the "neighborhoods", then to the "neighborhoods".

The stiffness of the orthogonality is only apparent. It is only the necessary and useful base for the free expression of diversity and poetry. It is precisely the perfume of humanism and culture that transpires from the sponsor's grand design that incites him to propose this neutral structure to allow the gentle and joyful expression of diversity.

 

Harmonious diversity
 

Rather than in the structure and envelope of the building, it is in the choice of finishing touches, textiles, leathers, wallpapers, wickerwork, enhanced by artistic interventions, that the indispensable diversity of the interior spaces is created. Walls, partitions and partitions are covered with them, carpets of all kinds cover the floor, chandeliers, sculptures and other pleasant and useful objects can be hung from the wooden ceiling.

The same is true for furniture (except for that which is specifically covered by the Workplace Wellness Code, such as workstation seating). The project proposes furniture elements reused or made from the supplies of the Ressourcerie Namuroise but each occupant, in respect and dialogue with the others, can also propose a chair, a table, a cupboard that expresses his personality.

It is therefore a question of trying to use only second or third choice visuals, reused or recycled materials, making sure that it makes sense socially and culturally, that it becomes poetic. It must give a soul to the building and generate affection from all users. The approach must then be perceived as exemplary for a public administration.

 

Natural ventilation
 

The ambition to offer the best possible indoor climate with the smallest possible environmental footprint leads to propose natural ventilation for the building.

When, as in this case, the outside air is of the desired quality, it is recognized that natural ventilation of a building is not only more pleasant but also more hygienic than that achieved mechanically with conditioned air distributed by air ducts. It is also more economical, in terms of investment, operation and maintenance costs, the main saving being the absence of energy-consuming installations to set the air in motion and to cool it, notwithstanding the non-recuperation of energy from the warm air extracted in winter.

Interior ventilation in cool weather is provided by static vents at the top of the patio windows, at the bottom of which are floor convectors. The air is evacuated by natural draught via chimneys located every 4.05 m on the south and north facades, in the central east-west axis and in the center of the three central wings.

On summer nights, the free cooling of the granite floors is ensured by the opening of the patio windows, which are sheltered from the rain under the glass roofs.

 

Renewable energies
 

In the case of this project, of the technologies available today, only those using solar energy and geothermal energy with a heat pump are exploitable.

Solar thermal energy would be inefficient in this case. Wind power could make very efficient use of the winds present on the site, but would produce too much noise. Cogeneration would duplicate solar and geothermal energy. The kinetic energy of the river would be too low given the slowdown generated by the locks. Finally, the quantity of biomass present on the site is too small to consider its energy exploitation, whereas it is particularly useful as fertilizer.

 

Parking, roads, access
 

The automobile entrances to the site (main entrance and parking entrance) are located in front of the long south-western façade of the building, from the roadway giving access to the former Institut Saint-Aubain from Rue Bodart. This road will perhaps be extended in the future along the banks of the Sambre towards the South in connection with avenue Woitrin.

Staff and visitors coming from rue Marinus by public transport or by bicycle can also, like the PRMs, take the elevator located as an extension of the footbridge in the south-east corner of the site and reach the main entrance via a covered gallery. The entrance for heavy vehicles is located in the northeast corner of the site.

Of the 371 parking spaces provided for cars, 12 are reserved for PRMs and 30 for visitors near the entrance, 12 are equipped with electric recharging stations, 28 are reserved for carpooling and 12 (including one for PRMs) are allocated to staff in the delivery area. 30 motorcycle parking spaces are planned near the "village square" and 103 covered bicycle spaces are planned under the canopies and galleries.

 

The surroundings
 

The open area is entirely dedicated to market gardening and staff recreation (sports fields could also be considered), it consists of different gardens divided into three parts:

1. to the northeast: the educational garden, with its open-ground cultivation area (next to the greenhouse and nursery) and its container cultivation area, as well as the vegetable production garden for the staff;
2. to the northwest: the large biodiversity and relaxation garden with its health trail and personalized insect hotels (the maximum possible amount of the existing asphalt area is also recovered, artistically treated so as not to destroy it);
3. to the southwest: the perfume rose garden and the therapeutic garden.

Building: 10,133 m²; land: 32,616 m²; 2017 - 2021; (01/640).

Services provided

• Urban planning
• History of the site
• Microclimate
• Hydrogeology
• Architecture
• Interior design
• Surrounding and landscape design
• Structural engineering
• Engineering of special techniques
• Commissioning Facilities engineering
• Building physics, EPB
• Energy Smart Grid 
• Air quality
• Daylighting
• BREEAM Certification
• Acoustics
• Signage
• Accessibility
• Fire safety

 

Distinction : Regional Western Europa BREEAM AWARD 2022

Tender selected following a restricted call for tenders "design and construction" on behalf of Entreprises Jan De Nul.