Local architecture studio Archipelago has transformed a former brutalist post office in Belgium into a learning centre, stripping it back to reveal its "spacious, generous and luminous" interiors.
Located in Louvain-la-Neuve, the building was renovated for the Centre d'enseignement supérieur en Brabant wallon (CPFB), an education centre linked to the University of Louvain that focuses on social development.
Originally designed as a post office by André Jacqman and since subject to a series of alterations, Archipelago sought to bring the original spatial and material clarity back to the concrete structure to accommodate its new use.
Archipelago has transformed a former brutalist post office into a learning centre in Belgium
"The building is spacious, generous and luminous," project architect Sophie Laborde told Dezeen. "When we took it over, after numerous alterations, it was over-compartmentalised to accommodate a functional programme to the detriment of the architecture of the site." "The first task was to strip the building bare, recovering the concrete that could be salvaged, rediscovering the colour of the brick," she continued.
"The aim of the project is to restore the building to its pristine condition as far as possible, while providing it with the technological and thermal comfort it will need for the next 30 years."
A communal area is hosted beyond the ground floor entrance
The core concept for the CPFB was to cre...