The ambition of the municipality of Oostkamp to spatially connect a multipurpose hall, youth activity spaces, school care and the church is a symbolic sign of socio-cultural sustainability.

We saw it as an assignment to make this visible in the formal definition of the design proposal.

In this way, the new cultural center fits in with the roof shape of the adjoining St. John’s Evangelist Church. The roof rhythm of the church is continued according to the needs of the spaces underneath in terms of program, free height, orientation and views. The building program is thus literally and figuratively condensed under one roof.

The multipurpose hall can open parts of its glass facade to the green playing field, doubling the available social space. Due to its transparency, the hall reveals its activities in the evenings.

With prefabricated wooden modules as primary structural elements, the ecological footprint is reduced. Almost the entire construction phase of the project can be prefabricated, which means that the margin of error is lower and the construction time is considerably shortened.