Diepenbeek - Eco-campus gateway

The complete study and design assignment for the development of the entrance gate for the eco-campus in Diepenbeek was awarded to Muoto Architectes, OTO landscape architecture, Tab Architects.

The Diepenbeek campus is undergoing transformation. A master plan ‘signal area and campus Diepenbeek’ was drawn up by the province of Limburg (OO2810, designer AgenceTer), which was subsequently refined in several partial studies. This master plan aims to map out the space for a future development of the campus in harmony and dialogue with the fragile and valuable landscape of the Demer valley. A balance between expansion and ecological protection of the area is the starting point. In addition, this assignment focuses strongly on a spatial and sustainable translation of the innovative cross-fertilisation between education, research and economic activity that characterises the Diepenbeek campus. The gateway building will be designed as the flagship of the campus, with a strong focus on meeting and collaboration.

The gateway to the campus was spatially translated by Muoto Architectes, OTO landscape architecture and Tab Architects as a connecting place where activities, multimodal nodes, collective facilities and green-blue infrastructures come together. An ensemble of cylindrical buildings of different sizes, planted around the existing roundabout, forms a strong figure. The coherence of the whole rests on a dialogue, a gentle play of convex forms. The roundabout becomes a place of convergence connecting the new access buildings.

The all-sidedness of the buildings allows them to be placed closer to each other and to the roundabout. They work together as an ensemble, a gateway to the three sub-campuses. A geometry of hospitality, inertia and coexistence. The gatehouse is complex in terms of programme but simple in terms of planning. The proposal to bring outward circulation is in line with an elegant structure within which flexibility is still possible, and results in more usable surface area.

The identity of the parking building is defined by its structure, which has a qualitative appearance and offers possibilities for future flexible infill. An interior patio provides space for the two spiral ramps and two semi-circular open-air gardens and contributes to the visual and spatial quality of the building.

Both the parking building and the tower building feature functions that activate the ground level and encourage encounters.

This proposal aims to evolve towards a gatehouse with as few energy consumers as possible and a building that no longer needs a delivery system for cooling and heating. This fits perfectly with the idea of evolving towards an energy-positive campus and fits in perfectly with the client’s ambitions.

For this assignment, the design team was chosen first, so that in a first phase the dialogue between client and designer could be optimised in preparation for efficient continuation in a construction team.

The Diepenbeek campus is undergoing a transformation. In 2018 the Province of Limburg completed the master plan ‘Diepenbeek signal area and campus’. The starting point of this master plan is to provide a balance between expansion and ecological protection of the valuable Demer valley.

The ambition is to develop the Diepenbeek campus into an eco-campus with room for education, research and activity in the care and building sectors. The campus will be divided into different sub-campuses, each with its own focus and programme. However, the various zones form a single whole and are linked by a number of large public roads that significantly improve the readability of the campus for users and visitors.

The master plan was further refined in 2020. This led to innovative insights in the fields of construction, accessibility and water management. Densification, depaving, concentration of volumes and building upwards are the basic principles here.

The ‘health campus’ sub-campus extends to the north and south of the gateway and will become the pivot of innovation in healthcare. Whereas access to the campus currently lacks the prestige it deserves, in the future the new building complexes of the health campus will form a striking gateway to the Diepenbeek eco-campus.

An opportunity study was carried out to map out the potential for the access zone. The gateway should be designed as a connecting place where activities, multimodal nodes, collective facilities and green-blue infrastructures come together. Three new buildings are planned near the main entrance: a gateway building (inspiration hub), a parking building (parking hub) and an education building (multimodal hub). These will be linked together by a footbridge connecting the various buildings and the different parts of the health campus.

This design competition includes the gateway building, the parking building and the footbridge. The three entities should be designed as a single whole. The footbridge should be designed in such a way that it can also function when not all the buildings have been realized.

In addition, the exterior space around the buildings must also be designed according to the principles of the studies carried out in relation to this area. This assignment is limited to the preparation of a design. The gateway is intersected by the future campus boulevard. In anticipation of the concrete plans and their implementation, this assignment provides only for the temporary construction of the outdoor space around the buildings to guarantee accessibility of the buildings.

The programme for the buildings is currently being fine-tuned with the parties involved. The commissioning authority expects the designers to help think about how we can guarantee flexibility (in terms of infill and expansion) and multifunctionality in terms of the programme.

The interplay between the various buildings must give the gateway zone a representative character. The whole will have the allure of a gate, the ‘entrance to the city’ and an ‘access to nature’. The focus is therefore more on the interplay of the various buildings to arrive at a symbolically charged point rather than a single iconic eye-catcher. Nevertheless, the focus should be on a high image quality.

The eco-campus should become a model of sustainability, both in terms of the buildings as in terms of the organization of the undeveloped space. POM Limburg’s ambition is to develop the eco-campus into a Positive Energy District in the future. In terms of water, the objective is to keep the cycle on the campus as closed as possible. Preservation and development of biodiversity are important principles. A dynamic campus also requires a future-oriented organization. By taking changing needs into account from the start, spaces, buildings and materials can be kept in use with limited effort.

To realize these ambitions, we are looking for a multidisciplinary team with experience in architecture, landscape architecture and infrastructure design. The team must be able to translate creative ideas into a technically and financially feasible as well as sustainable story. The design team will also ensure that the entire process is supported by BIM. Moreover, a construction team formula is being considered for this development.

Included in the assignment

• (landscape) architecture study for the parking and gateway building and the footbridge connecting the buildings to the gateway building
• stability study
• techniques
• study of the acoustics (specific acoustic requirements, sound insulation with regard to neighbours, outside noise, the rooms among themselves, the other public and non-public spaces and the noise level in the classrooms, etc.)
• the study of the layout of the outside space and the execution of a temporary outside layout (depending on the accessibility of the buildings)
• the study of the interior design
• including the fixed furniture
• the execution of EPB reporting
• the execution of safety coordination
• financial-technical analysis (estimate)
• BIM support for the entire process

Not included in the assignment

• MOBER

• archaeological survey
• demolition follow-up plan and asbestos inventory
• measurement plans

Exclusion, selection- and award criteria

Please read the selection guideline. There you can find:

• the grounds for exclusion
• the selection criteria (suitability and technical and professional competence)
• the award criteria
• the description of the evidence and documents to be submitted
• …