The Municipality of Kortrijk has unanimously granted the planning permission to the student tower 'The Sky', designed by C+S Architects in partnership with Linklab and Markland from Kortrijk. This collaboration has resulted in a unique landmark of 53 meters high that will put Kortrijk on the map. Not only as a student city, but also as a city with a heart for sustainability and architecture.
Project developer ION did not choose the name of the new residential tower - 'The Sky' - by chance. “With its 16 floors, it will be one of the tallest buildings in Kortrijk and an absolute showpiece.”
On top of the building a large roof terrace provides a 360° view of the city skyline and all the new greenery on the Vives University of Applied Sciences site. A new park of 3,439 square meters is designed around the building and there will be a lot of focus on soft mobility.
The facade of the tower, which houses 192 student rooms and a series of hybrid multifunctional spaces, is designed as a pattern alternating the glass of the full-height windows of the rooms with the opaque parts, designed using a new sustainable material: Dekton, which allows an extreme good quality, durability and design flexibility. The crown of the building and the ground floor are double height to underline the presence of community spaces.
The project will be a model of sustainability, thanks in part to so-called 'concrete core activation': a construction technique in which pipes are laid inside the concrete so that the concrete itself can be heated or cooled. Heat pumps, and combined heat and power, are incorporated to reduce the use of gas as heat – or cool down in the summer – happens via concrete core activation. By laying pipes through the entire concrete structure of the building during the pouring of the concrete, we can then cool down or heat up at strategic moments in a very energy-efficient manner. In this way, the concrete itself actually serves as a buffer against too high or too low outside temperatures.
The construction of 'The Sky' will start early next year.
The first students will be able to move into 'The Sky' before 2025.
