Residential quarter AA Gent

With the disappearance of the football stadium and associated sport infrastructure from the inner area of the site, a large-scale, open space has been created which almost has no definition from the perspective of the existing margins of the block.

The primary structure of the urban development plan designed by us for this space is defined by a central space for public use. This public space plays a role at the neighbourhood level in providing an open space with a green character. The centre spot of the former KAA Gent field is retained as a silent witness and gives rise to an informal grass plot. The existing row of beech trees is the impulse for a diagonal route through the park which connects the neighbourhood behind it with the amenities in Brusselsesteenweg.

The secondary structure is formed by strips and clusters with a strong typological identity at the edges of the block. The alternating widths of the strips generates a strong variation in plot size and, consequently, the building types foreseen on each. The bricks which complete the structure of the development plan are based on these diverse building typologies.

The typological composition is aimed at reinforcing and completing the existing, valuable construction, generating an interplay of dense and more open clusters and introducing variation in the spatial experience of the area. To that end, the existing residential surrounds are given an injection in the form of innovative, varied and often land-bound residences which in turn explore alternative relationships to the adjacent landscape.

The goal is to enable a new model neighbourhood to come to fruition on the basis of this urban development concept in which the highest ambitions in terms of durability and livability are linked with typological innovation, creating a new and dense residential environment that is linked to a local park.