Located outside Antwerp in rural Belgium, the Frans Masereel Centrum is a graphic arts centre that specializes in printmaking. The result of an international design competition, a new 420 m2 pavilion has been completed by the winning team of architects LIST and Hideyuki Nakayama. The pavilion, which features an intriguing, multi-directional timber roof, is an extension to the existing dome design by architect Lou Jansen.
Filled with a verity of different machines and presses, the new pavilion is a place of production. The space is therefore not designed as an art gallery, but rather as an atelier. Materials and finishes are simple, while the building’s mechanical systems (ventilation ducts, cables etc) are left exposed.
The pavilion is built using traditional construction materials and techniques. Outer walls are made of dark red brick while the inner leaf is a block wall with concrete columns. There are two types of openings, being glass curtain walling and doors/windows recessed into the brick walls. The floor is polished concrete while the timber structure roof is finished with bitumen roofing.
The building’s roof structure was developed during the competition phase in close collaboration with structural engineers from Bollinger + Grohmann. The structure is based on a traditional structural typology called the reciprocal frame. Able to span over great distances with limited length timber elements, the typology is generated by mutually self-supporting elements and developed through simple repetitive patterns. The appearance features different spacing with no specific direction. In total, the structure is composed of 800 solid wood beams of equal section.
