The Town hall is straightforwardly legible to citizens, politicians and functionaries and able to maintain its architecture while absorbing changes to the program. A simple, reconfigurable loft building provides tall, day lit and naturally heated and ventilated spaces. A lower building attached to the front identifies the entrances and lets the political processes taking place in the council chamber be visible to the city.

In both parts, the cladding is set back behind a columnar facade to provide a loggia to shade the building from summer sun, and to provide informal spaces outside the workspaces and council chamber. The loggias are pure facade, abstract and pictorial, able to present the building as something significant by reversing the solidity of the 14th century church opposite it. In plan the building forms a public space at the edge of the river, which is incorporated into Marie-Jose van Hee’s landscape plan for the whole area.

STRABAG Belgium nv is responsible for plot number 1: the closed structure and the finishing of this new development project. 3,800 m3 of concrete, 6,000 m2 of formwork, ground displacement screwpiles and 500,000 kg of steel are required to realise this project. The project is highly sustainable and energy-efficient by design and makes use of the latest HVAC technology. The City of Deinze is investing in a borehole thermal energy storage system to keep the building warm in winter and cool in the summer. The warmth and coolness are extracted from the ground by means of a natural process. The installation of 100-metre-deep hydraulic pipes provides additional support to this innovative solution. The façades are structured like loggias (open spaces supported by columns) that can be transformed in the summer to provide a pleasant and shady outside space.