wim goes architectuur completes hollistic royal belgian sailing club

wim goes architectuur completes hollistic royal belgian sailing club
image © filip dujardin
all images courtesy of wim goes architectuur

the royal belgian sailing club is a modest yet exhaustively thought out structure that sits on a site of extreme contrasts between land and ocean, industry and human scale. belgian practice wim goes architectuur was able to erect the building in 100 days with the use of prefabricated components assembled on site, and every piece of the building plays a critical role in the function of the whole. beginning with the primary structure, enormous laminated wooden beams lay out the regular grid that governs the spaces. 
image © filip dujardin

in order to control expansion and contraction the beams fit together through large notches that slide into one another to hold them in place but allow enough movement so as not to stress the structure. the massive timber glulams not only form the cantilevering roof beams but also fit into the pieces that eventually become the walls that subdivide the program so that each plane could be read as a solid slab with the necessary penetrations to allow the building to function.  the next layer consists of a lightweight steel skeleton that attaches to the structure through pinned connections and supports itself on the foundation, meaning that the wooden structure only needs to support the window loads of the steel and not its dead weight.

external circulation within the thermal barrier insulates the interior program
image © filip dujardin

in between the framework, single pane glass panels enclose the inner space forming a semi-conditioned habitable thermal layer which helps to control ventilation and temperature naturally in the program that exists within the core of the design. the excessive use of glass also exposes the wooden elements that so define the interior ambiance- an ingenuity of systems taken directly from the world of sailing and the relationships of each part of a ship. the rooftop deck allowing views across the landscape is enclosed by a railing which not only acts as a measure of safety for visitors but also contains within its design cross bracing that allows it to function as a large truss used to support the weight of the large operable glass doors. the building, like a ship, contains a relationship to its inhabitants, allowing them to modify its behavior through interaction, adapting it to the world inside and out.

front elevation
image © filip dujardin

large glass accordion panels fold back to open the interstitial space to the outdoors, cooling the interior
image © filip dujardin

image © filip dujardin

public seating areas enjoy views of the water
image © filip dujardin

image © filip dujardin

conditioned interior space within the large glulam walls
image © filip dujardin

image © filip dujardin

view from the rooftop deck
image © filip dujardin

image © filip dujardin

wooden structure during construction
image © filip dujardin

exterior of assembled wooden structure
image © filip dujardin

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project info:

address: omookaai 1, zeebrugge (be)
client: commodore andré annicq for the board of directors of the royal belgian sailing club
architect: wim goes architectuur
team: wim goes anja houbaert, laura bown, johannes berry, antonio fernandez, laura van kerkhove, carmen ojalvo guiberteau, eyukewe nicolas dogo, tim de messemaeker
structural engineer: studieburo mouton
mep engineer: raf de herdt