Leuven - De Wijnpers

The brief comprises a new building for the first two years of secondary education, plus a sports hall, for the Leuven Campus. The Province of Flemish Brabant’s Leuven Campus is located within the Leuven ring road on Mechelsevest and is 4.9 ha in size. The school site houses ‘De Wijnpers’ secondary school for technical, vocational and artistic education. The school has 5 departments: the first grade, agriculture, biotechnology, visual arts and central heating/plumbing. De Wijnpers currently has 470 students. In addition to De Wijnpers, the buildings are also home to an adult education centre called ‘De Nobel’.

The site is located on a steep slope which provides exceptional panoramic views of the city of Leuven. The aim is to concentrate the buildings along the street (Mechelsevest) and safeguard the remaining open space.
The Walraevens building is located on Mechelsevest between the main building and the central heating/plumbing building. It was originally built as a villa for Professor Walraevens and never underwent any structural renovation when it was put into use as a school building. From a structural viewpoint, the building is completely worn out and dilapidated, as a result of which the provincial authorities wish to replace it with a new building. In order that it can serve as an example to others, the aim is to construct a low-energy building.

Just like the current Walraevens building, the new building will serve as a building for the first two years of De Wijnpers. It is an educational choice on the part of the school to create a sort of ‘cocoon’ for the students of the first two years by means of a separate building.

The campus currently lacks an adequate sports hall with corresponding facilities. The reception room which is currently used as a sports hall does not have the appropriate dimensions and is also not adequately fitted out. The new construction project will see the integration of a sports hall which will be used by the whole school. Since the hall will be used not only by the students of the first two years, it must have separate entrances.

As regards its location, the new building will be built on approximately the same site as the Walraevens building, next to the school’s main student entrance. The design must redefine the borders of the project zone in order to achieve a good result.
Alongside the building, there must also be a playground for the pupils of the first two years and bicycle sheds for the whole school, and an existing high-voltage cabin must be integrated into the building.

Overall, fixed fee of 8% (including stability and technical installations)