The building dates back to the 1950s and is of historical significance for the city of Ghent. The building is part of the architectural ensemble Groene Briel. So far, it has housed 110 small apartments. The aim of the project is to realize a complete renovation of the facade, as well as internal reconstruction. After the implementation of the project, there will be 85 large spacious apartments, and 5% of the one-bedroom apartments will be adapted for people with disabilities. It is extremely important for the municipality to preserve the vision of the facade as materials and raster of the panels. For this purpose, they chose GFRC facade panels and technical stone panels. The frames of the balcony doors were designed by GFRC, and the design is in accordance with the frames so that they can be easily assemled and dismantled, as well as adjusted in all directions.

The static calculations of the facade were based on the impact of wind and self-weight. Due to the large area of ​​the facade, we found it reasonable to do zoning of the wind load, which saves a lot of money for the investor. Static calculations were performed for the façade GFRC panels, GFRC frames, technical stone panels and for the supporting structure.

Due to the fact, the project was for the reconstruction of the ventilated facade of the building, the challenges were many. The biggest was that after a geodetic survey it turned out that the building has a 15 cm deviation in height, which had to be compensated by the building envelope. This created a lot of trouble in the working project, because it turned out that we have 20 consoles with different lengths for different panels. The static calculations were subsequently verified by a Belgian façade engineering bureau as well as by an independent façade designer in Germany.

In conclusion, this is one of the projects we are most proud of, due to the historical significance of the building, the great challenges and the high level of engineering.

For more information about the project click here