OFFICE 370

The campus of the Architecture Faculty in Liège occupies the former military barracks on the river island of Outremeuse in the heart of the city. The oldest structures of the so-called Caserne Fonck were built in the 13th century, with several additions made as the complex adapted to serve a variety of programs—from a monastery, and military barracks, to a school of architecture. The project for the faculty extension aims to reorganise the site by introducing a five-story thin slab in the central courtyard. This 100m-long new building accommodates the design ateliers, and functions as a hinge between the surrounding buildings on the campus. While it is conceived as an abstract screen towards the city, the building is entirely open towards the courtyard, with continuous balconies and a communal terrace on the first floor that can be used as a model workshop, or an event space. A side courtyard is covered with a lightweight roof to make a multi-purpose hall and a new entrance point to the campus. The project also involves renovation and reuse of the existing buildings: current laboratories are transformed into a new learning centre, and the old library is repurposed to serve the faculty administration.