urban planning | architecture | engineering | interior design

BURO II & ARCHI+I | urban planning | architecture | engineering | interior design
Rue J. Jordaensstraat 18a, B-1000 Brussel | T +32 2 641 88 00 | F +32 2 640 53 55 | E [email protected] | www.b2ai.com
Hoogleedsesteenweg 415, B-8800 Roeselare | T +32 51 21 11 05 | F +32 51 22 46 74 | E [email protected] | www.b2ai.com
Bellevue 5, B-9050 Ledeberg [Gent] | T +32 9 210 17 10 | F +32 9 210 17 19 | E [email protected] | www.buro2.be
BURO II & ARCHI+I burgerlijke vennootschap onder de vorm van cvba | Maatschappelijke zetel Brussel | BE 0834.075.680 | RPR Brussel
CREATING UNIQUE SPACE
Mission
Creating unique space through a holistic approach.
Vision
experiential
The strength of the process.
The process is a path that is explored. The answer to the question is not known
in advance, which leads to unique solutions and a diversity of projects.
Participation: the client as partner.
The client’s requirements are the starting point. The process is participatory:
the client takes part in the process in which a network of strategic partners
is engaged.
Multi-disciplinarity.
The different disciplines necessary for responding to the question are brought to bear.
This approach results in the firm’s team concept and the in-house professionalism
and expertise. All of these aspects come together in a project-level synthesis.
programme
value
socio-cultural
value
context and
preconditions
brief
Synthese
ecology and
building
technical value
...
sustainability
economical
value
Our projects and buildings ‘transcend’: they are more profound, more surprising, more functional, more sustainable or more
profitable than expected.
Frequently they combine these properties. Such projects are grown. They are the result of a search from various perspectives and take
into account various environmental factors. They are the result of the confrontation between ideas and expertise, between research and
expectations, between emotion and reason.
Our values
Societal value: BURO II & ARCHI+I gives space to society
Space has a social significance. Sustainability in all its facets: re-use, social integration, win/win aspects for municipalities, etc. Building
means bringing actors together.
Experiental value: BURO II & ARCHI+I gives space to the client
Each project starts with the client and his dreams and expectations. This journey is a collective journey: the client is involved, invited
and challenged. The client is a partner. Creativity is a process in which the answer to the question is not known in advance. This results
in customisation, in project specific solutions.
Building is living, experiencing and making dreams become reality.
Building technical value: BURO II & ARCHI+I gives space to expertise
BURO II & ARCHI+I has the essential key expertise in-house. True expertise, however, looks beyond its boundaries. Based on the
conviction that one plus one can equal three, we create teams of experts that take projects to a higher level due to the individual skills,
the professional knowledge of the team members and the team’s intense collaboration. We call on the expertise of professionals from
other disciplines, such as historians, sociologists, economists, artists and others. Both locally and internationally.
Building means building up expertise for today and for the future.
Economical value: BURO II & ARCHI+I gives space to feasibility
Projects are not only developed in a spatial and social context, but also in an economic one. In tandem, we strike a balance between
dream and reality, between your own desires and what is feasible. A good project is a project that is achievable and feasible for all
parties concerned. Building is planning, optimising, calculating and measuring.
BURO II & ARCHI+I wants to realize projects by an attitude of alertness, responsibility, social engagement, respect and participation.
From a to z
BURO II & ARCHI+I applies these principles to a wide range of projects. Being a multi-disciplinary firm, we have our own internal
departments for urban planning and landscape design, architecture, engineering, interior design, project management, and quantity
surveying. A tight corporate organisation and the internal availability of all of the core competencies contribute to an integrated result.
Urban Planning
Architecture
Engineering
Interior Design
Policy plans, master planning,
urban projects, development
plans, landscape design, urban
research
Design, research and planning,
construction surveillance
and budget management,
projectmanagement and
quantity surveying
Stuctural and technical
engineering, EPB,
sustainability, energy
and construction
physics
Total concepts, interior
architecture and design,
research, planning
Industrial buildings
and offices
Offices, banks and industrial buildings
Commercial buildings
Retail, hotels and restaurants and showrooms
Public buildings
Municipal offices, sports halls, retirement and nursing homes, hospitals, schools ...
Mixed projects
Buildings with mixed private and public functions
Housing projects
Private housing and housing projects
BURO II & ARCHI+I: a reliable partner with more than 30 years of experience, both
locally and internationally.
BURO II was founded in Roeselare in 1979 by Hendrik Vermoortel. ARCHI+I architecture and engineering techniques was founded in
1983 by Philémon Wachtelaer.
In 2011, BURO II & ARCHI+I merged to the new company BURO II & ARCHI+I cvba to create a solid group of approximately 140
associates, spread over offices in Roeselare, Gent and Brussels.
Partners in the office are Rita Agneessens, Geert Blervacq, Tom Vandorpe and Pieterjan Vermoortel.
Hendrik Vermoortel and Philémon Wachtelaer are members of the Board of Directors. As CEO, Rita Agneessens leads BURO II &
ARCHI+I and is also responsible for the intake of new projects. Geert Blervacq guides the operational flows, Tom Vandorpe is design
manager and Claude Labeeuw oversees the construction site. Along with the CFO they are the management team.
At the start of a project, a project director, a design architect and a project architect are appointed. The project director is the point of
contact for the client. The design architect and the project architect follow the project throughout the execution. They both monitor
the project from A to Z and are jointly responsible for the coordination of the internal disciplines. Integrated Design (ID), under the
leadership of Herman Jult, promotes the development of expertise and the consistency of the work.
The client receives a guarantee of an integrated approach from the initial sketches.
VYNCKE SUZHOU, CHINA
Client
Vyncke Energietechniek nv - Gentsesteenweg 224 - 8530 Harelbeke
Location
Suzhou - China
Status
Completed
Surfaces
10.000 m²
Team
BURO II & ARCHI+I
Certain Belgian companies that are active in China have commissioned our office to study the architectural
concept of their new buildings in China.
For Vyncke, a West-Flemish producer of ecological and energy friendly heating systems, a small study was
made about the image and concept of their new plant in Suzhou, which has since been built.
science city headquarters guangzhou, china [2006]
international competition [phase 1] - third place
Client
The Management Committe of Guangzhou - Economy and Technology Development Zone
Location
Guangzhou - China
Status
International competition [phase 1] - third place
Surfaces
330.000,00 sqm
Team
BURO II & ARCHI+I
The nature (the mountains and the trees) and the artificial (the village, the infrastructure and the buildings)
characterize the site and are able to generate a dynamic balance. Their different original identities are
reinforced by a clear spatial coexistence that creates a new urban environment of harmonious tensions and
innovative creativity.
By concentrating exchange and interaction along the public roads their urban character as activity spines
is reinforced. Doing so, we profit by the most accessible and visible location for the office and commercial
buildings improving their commercial value and attractiveness. The pedestrian walk side and commercial
floor function as a spine for internal communication and synergies between the different offices. Two
congress centers in the park give the opportunity to organize bigger meetings, fairs and congresses.
MERO BEACH dEvElOpMEnt dOMiniCA
CO2 neutral buildings - Holiday resort
Client
Mero Beach Development Ltd - pa Le National de Montreux sa / GrandRue 96 - CH-1820 Montreux
Location
Dominica
Surfaces
15.000 sqm
Team
BURO II & ARCHI+I in collaboration with ARUP, Londen [sustainable development concept] and
Tillyard Group [quantity surveying].
The design is a concept whereby a sustainable relationship with the local economy, culture and natural
heritage is central. The hotel assimilates with the natural habitat of the island.
From the point of the arrival by airplane, the unique experience that Dominica has to offer turns the
conventional airport-to-hotel trip into an exciting excursion through the rainforest. Rivers, mountains, sun,
rain, waterfalls and exotic plants merge into an all pervasive green embrace.
This overwhelming relationship with the nature is the point of departure for this project.
Historically men have sought basic shelter, either against weather or for protection against animals or
enemies. The cave in the mountain was one of the first forms of architecture. The concept of comfort has
since evolved to a sophisticated level often to the extent of luxury.
For many people luxury is a predicatable matter of expensive materials and overcharged finishing. As
Dominica is a different destination meant for people of discerning taste, the concept of luxury as linked to
nature should be examined in a deeper sense of well-being.
Being able to understand why comfort is needed is the most successful way to enjoy it. Our concept of
luxury goes back to the origin, being the one that unveils the reason why this primary comfort has been
sought.
Getting shelter when a sudden rain starts, staying in the shade when the sun gest too strong, rushing tot
the sea when the heat slams, having a fresh breakfast after waking up hungry, falling asleep tot the sound
of the waves when stressed, glaring at a sunset after a fulfilling day. Real pleasure comes from real needs.
Making nature evident will make architecture stronger.
The goal of the project is to create a dialog with the presence of the existing: the nature and the village.
The main characteristics of the site are: the presence of the beach, the thick foliage all along the beach, the
long and thin plot, the road running along the plot, the topography from flat to steep, the river and ravine
and the proximity of Mero village.
MASTERPLAN KLAIPEDA, LITOUWEN
Client
Verdispar project Development UAB - Verslo Uostas Business Center [floor 16] Lvovo Str, LT-09308 Vilnius
Location
Gluosniustreet - Klapeida, Litouwen
Surfaces
6.449 m² [excl. parking]
Team
BURO II & ARCHI+I in collaboration with VAS [Vilnius Architecture Studio]
Klaipeda has grown as a linear city along the coast. The oldtown typology of Klaipeda defines the linear
order of the site. Het multiple cluster typology works as a catalyst to invigorate the otherwise rigid
oldtown typology. This helps to create a more hierarchical sequence of public space and experience of the
community. The mixture of these divergent typologies, helps to realize a dynamic urban potential.
The old and new city area touch one another in the old fortification, which functions as the memory of the
city.
The masterplan stipulates the linearity of the city, and is crosscrossed by circulations routes and boulevards.
The visual contact with the waterfront, new public spaces, new residential buildings with high living quality,
roof terraces, commercial functions,… harmonize with the historical city center.
masterplan ‘ecopolis‘ bourgas, bulgarije [2008]
Client
William G. Stern, BA JD [Harvard], Albert Court 6, Kensington Gore, Londen [Engeland]
Location
Bourgas in Bulgarije
Status
Start study: 8 May 2007
Team
BURO II & ARCHI+I | Urban Planning in collaboration with B.U.U.R.
The London-based developer Stern commissioned BURO II and BUUR for a master plan and feasibility study
for a deserted shipyard in Bourgas (Bulgaria), covering approximately 100 hectares. As well as foreseeing
the necessary space for economical and infrastructural development, the plan also had attention for green
space and cultural and leisure activities.
The masterplan foresees a new city comprising approximately 2.000.000 m² floor surface with a capacity
to house around 40.000 residents. There is space for housing, parks, museums, hotels, commercial and
business centres,… and a marina with 2000 berths.
MASTERPLAN CAMBRAI, FRANCE [in progress]
Client
sepAC, rue de Beaufort Bp-463, 62028 Arras
Location
Cambrai - Frankrijk
Status
start study: 14 July 2008 – study approved: 1 octobre 2008
Team
BUro ii & ArCHi+i | Urban planning
The masterplan stipulates a new function for an abandoned industrial site along the scheldt, nearby the
city centre of Cambrai. new functions are residential living, facilities for youth, recreation, health care and
commercial functions.
This conversion is part of the development of the environment of the scheldt in Cambrai into an attractive
residential area with low dynamic tourism and recreational opportunities. The project contributes to
strengthening the functioning of the city.
BAIYUN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER GUANGZHOU, CHINA [2007]
International competition - laureate
World Architecture Festival Awards 2008 - Barcelona – Laureate category ‘Civic’
Client
Guangzhou Baiyun International Conference Center Project Construction Office
No.1039-1045, Bai Yun Ave. South
Guangzhou - China
Location
Guangzhou - China
Status
Taken into use in January 2007
Surfaces
272.000,00 sqm
Team
BURO II & ARCHI+I and Design Institute of CITIC (China) [architectural design]
Laurent Ney & Partners [structural design]
Ingenium nv [technical design]
Daidalos [energy and acoustics]
TTAS bvba [technical theatre design]
Denis Dujardin, Stefaan Thiers [landscape design]
Van Santen & Ass. [Frankrijk] [façade engineering]
Lens°Ass [interior design]
Concept
The local authority of Guangzhou decided to develop a congress centre at the edge of the historical
landscape of the Baiyun Mountains. The new congress centre will function as generator for the further
urban development of the city of Guangzhou.
The congress centre is integrated in a system of physical and visually open connections between the city
and the mountains. The primary principle is the merging of landscape and building. The ‘fingers of nature’
penetrate the site; the mountains are brought into the city.
The concept is an open modular system of flexible spaces. Functions are grouped through the horizontal
and vertical modulation. The horizontal modules house general services, foyers, catering exhibition space,
VIP areas, offices… The vertical modules are meant for specific facilities, including a congress hall for 2500
people.
GUANGXI SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CENTER, CHINA [2006]
International competition - second prize
Client
Ministery of Science, Guangxi province
Location
Nanning - China
Status
International competition - second prize
Surfaces
60.000,00 sqm
Team
BURO II & ARCHI+I in collaboration with Elastic [architecture], Guangxi Institute of Architectural Design and
Research [local partner], Laurent Ney & Partners [structural design], Daidalos [energy and acoustics],
TTAS bvba [technical theatre design] and Van Santen & Ass. [Frankrijk] [façade engineering]
The participation in this competition, organized by the South China province of Guangxi in 2006, we
experimented with an open design platform. In addition to the usual supporting specialists, a team form
Elastik participated: a young team of innovative designers from Amsterdam and Ljubljana.
The building is a symbol of openness, interaction and sustainable evolution. The innovative concept allows
visitors to acquaint themselves with the evolution of science while also providing a glimpse into the future.
As of today, this project will not be realized.
EXCEL LTD. guangzhou, ChIna [in progress]
Client
guangzhou excel F.r.p. industries Co. Ltd., Donghua Village, renhe Town, Baiyn, District, 510470,
guanghzou, China
Location
guangzhou - China
Status
Design phase
Surfaces
5.132 sqm
Team
BUro ii & ArCHi+i in collaboration with o-office guangzhou [local partner], ingenium nv [technical
design] en Daidalos peutz [energy and acoustics]
excell Ltd., is a Belgian company producing mannequins in polystyrene. They wish to build a new factory
on the industrial site of Quingyuan, but more specifically wish to realize a harmonious ‘campus’ in which to
house their creative team and their activities.
The building contains a factory, a show room, sleeping units and other services for workers and employees
and offices and meeting rooms.
The building has to consume low amounts of energy and be ecological. special attention has to be put
into safety and hygiene. The process of production includes dangerous flammable solvents and powdered
substances which have to be evacuated by an adapted extraction system. electricity and high pressure air
are also used in this process.
in genereal, the building has to be an inspiring and sociable context sustaining creative activities.
in opposition to the anonymous industrial context, the building is conceived around a “green core”; a
central place of tranquillity, contemplation and comfort. This green patio serves as a focal point that
organizes the varied volumes within the complex.
A roof, “umbrella”, protects the inside environment from the harsh climate (rain and sun) and separates the
industrial and private realms.
it consists of a ventilated roof, formed of kal-zip and terra-cotta tiles. The first acts as a giant “reflector” of
heat while the second acts to protect and help absorb heat from the first.
The “boxes” protected by this umbrella are airtight closed areas with a higher level of hydrothermal
comfort. They are self-sustaining and ensure a great flexibility in use for the future.
DAMBIA CENTRES IN RIGA, LETLAND
Client
SIA ‘Dambja centrs’ - Ganibu dambis 1 - LV 1045 Riga
Location
Residential - Commercial Estate - Ganibu Dambis 1 - Riga, Latvia
Surfaces
61.500m² [incl.parking 21.500m²]
Team
BURO II & ARCHI+I in collaboration with VAS [Vilnius Architecture Studio]
The mixed residential and commercial project on the Ganibu Dambis Boulevard in the UNESCO world
heritage city of Riga (Latvia) houses 350 apartments, 7000 m² retail and a large underground car park.
The project formed the basis and foundation of an intense collaboration with VAS Architects from Vilnius
(Lithuania).
Through several workshops and multiple contacts a new method is being developed, whereby the typical
potholes of compromise are avoided but rather make room for consensus through a careful and systematic
series of steps. Hence we have broken through the familiar cliché of a leading architect linked to a local
office for construction, to actually form a real and close partnership.
coNGRESScENTRE AND cASiNo kNokkE-hEiST [IN pROgRESS]
international competition - laureate
Client
Town of Knokke-Heist - Alfred Verweeplein 1 - 8300 Knokke-Heist
Location
Seafront Canadaplein - Knokke-Heist
Status
Design phase
Surfaces
50.000 sqm [excluding underground carpark]
Team
Steven Holl Architects [New York, USA] in collaboration with BURO II & ARCHI+I
A balanced partnership was developed in the frame of the Casino project in Knokke, between Steven Holl
Architects (New York) and Flemish architect’s firm, BURO II & ARCHI+I, in order to develop the concept and
for the concept’s future implementation. BURO II & ARCHI+I was chosen, due to the available competencies
and the guarantees as regards continuity of the firm’s approach and adherence to the concept. Whereas all
work will initially be centred in New York, with support from Roeselare, during the design phase, Roeselare
will take over in the implementation phase, under the New York office’s supervision.
The design was inspired by a panel of Magritte’s ‘Le Domaine Enchanté’ (The Enchanted Realm), a mural
that was specifically created for the existing Casino in Knokke. In the mural, a ship is telling a story to a
mermaid.
The current Casino, which was designed by Leon Stynen in 1925, will be renovated and partially restored to
its original programme: an open house facing the boardwalk.
A new, thin and high glass volume or tower will be built above the existing Casino. From a distance, it
will be easily recognizable as a gigantic billowing sail suspended from two giant masts. The trilogy will be
completed with a hybrid porous bridge connecting the building to the boardwalk and La Réserve and the
Scharpoord cultural centre, which are situated behind it. The white perforated walls refer to the scales
featured in the mural.
The renovated Casino building will be used again as a Casino, which has been refurbished and adapted to
the requirements of a modern Casino. It will also comprise a number of exhibition spaces and public areas.
The glass tower configuration will include a hotel and nightclub, a spa and a number of private residential
apartments. At the top of the tower a rooftop restaurant and terrace will be built so everybody can enjoy
the splendid view of Knokke-Heist, the sea and the hinterland.
The bridge volume will be used as a congress centre. A number of commercial and catering functions will
be integrated in the project in strategic locations. The design allows for a redistribution of the functions in
line with market demand as well as the real estate developer’s requirements.