Het Trappenhuis Extension
The Trappenhuis stands today in a historically rich part of Ghent, Belgium. Situated in the North-East part of the city, the new extension of the school makes reference to a scar in the urban fabric from the 18th century, an angled street which separated the school from the neighboring city block. The program adds three additional primary classrooms, a kindergarten, a library, a new administrative core and a refter. The extension has been structured as a monastery, with the kindergarten playground in the center and load-bearing walls on the exterior, providing protection. This layout was viewed as most appropriate because references of the Saint Bavo’s Abbey where found during the research phase, a monastery that occupied the site in the 16th century. The extension is a hybrid timber construction, stitched together with cross-laminated timber walls, glulam beams and Lignatrend roofing. A material response to the Brutalist appearance of the old Trappenhuis, was to also use prefabricated rammed earth in the extension. This is used primarily in the facades, especially in the southern facade, but also in the interior corridors. Rammed earth was deemed the most sustainable and logical building material since earth would be dug out from the site to build the kindergarten 1.75 meters blow ground. Brick is also used in the facade, primarily serving as a drip edge in each rammed earth interval. Three solar chimneys mark the rooftop of the kindergarten. This low-tech system enables each classroom to be heated naturally. CLT was used to sculpt each chimney, the resulting form hides a mechanical ventilation unit and heat ex-changer.
