2017 - 2024

Campus Mutsaard

2017 - 2024

Campus Mutsaard

In the northern part of Brussels, a new school complex integrates a day-care center, a primary school, a secondary school, and two gyms. Designed to fit on a compact urban plot, the project not only meets educational needs but also creates opportunities for sports, childcare, and local gatherings, enriching the neighborhood’s social life.

Location

Brussels

Client

Stad Brussel

Collaboration

LOW architecten, MBG, VK Engineering,
Photography – StijnBollaert

Surface Area

5 500 m2

The project accommodates a day-care center for 72 children, a primary school for 456 students, a secondary school for 288 students, and two sports facilities. Each educational institution is given its own distinct identity, including separate entrances and schoolyards. However, the available plot spans just over 5,500 square meters, presenting significant spatial constraints.

Urban planning regulations posed multiple challenges, restricting construction to the streetline and resulting in a closed city block with a maximum height of 15 meters and a depth of 12.15 meters. Furthermore, the site features a nearly 7-meter difference in elevation, adding complexity to the design. Meeting all the functional and design goals under these conditions required a careful balance between architecture, landscape design, and engineering, resulting in thoughtfully calibrated and innovative solutions.

To accommodate the extensive program within the site’s limitations, part of the building was constructed underground, and outdoor spaces were distributed across multiple levels. This “stacked landscape” approach draws inspiration from Asian rice terraces and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

The gyms are built completely underground. The kindergarten classrooms are grouped around a sunken, atrium-like courtyard. Above this, the primary schoolyard is situated, with an indoor bicycle parking area acting as a buffer to the secondary schoolyard. On the roof of the bicycle parking area, a lounge space with ping-pong tables has been created, covered by a large awning. Above the awning, a vegetable garden has been established.

The various levels naturally provide separate outdoor areas, while the transitions between them include slopes, slides, and stairs, creating exciting play areas. The entire complex is fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. Additionally, the campus is designed to welcome the broader community, allowing access outside school hours for activities such as childcare, sports events, and neighborhood gatherings, creating a lively hub for local engagement.

The City of Brussels has ambitious climate resilience goals, requiring at least 50% of a plot’s surface to be permeable for rainwater infiltration. Due to the intensive use of space, this requirement could not be met in a conventional way. Instead, an innovative rainwater management system was designed.

The roofs of the building are covered with grass and succulents where possible, which help to absorb rainwater. Excess water flows into a decorative waterfall and buffer container, where it is stored for later use in flushing toilets. In the kindergarten courtyard, rainwater collects in a decorative basin and gradually seeps into an infiltration crate, allowing it to return to the ground. This interconnected system not only addresses water retention but also enriches the schoolyards with an interactive, educational playground.

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