Meise Botanical Garden logistics building
Nieuwelaan, Meise 2019 - ...
At the botanical garden of Meise, the realization of a building dedicated to the maintenance of the garden creates an ensemble of three related buildings that delineate a logistical outdoor space at their center.
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The building is enveloped in a heavy wall of rammed earth, a ‘friendly wall’ that maximizes the path leading to the boiler house and the logistically usable area. The wall does not present a boundary to the neighbors but rather a piece of nature: a specific vegetation will develop on the wall in the microclimate under the trees. In the logistical square, a number of colossal columns stand like ancient trees in the garden. Between the columns, there is access to the workshops, the storage area, and an outdoor space, all covered by a sloping roof streching along, supported by tensioned wooden beams.
The boiler house will be restored and prepared for a new future. It is evolving into an energy house for sustainable energy generation and water recovery.
'Natural pavilion'
Everything in the botanical garden revolves around time. The garden is never the same and shows how everything around us evolves over the years. In contrast stands the seemingly unchanging architecture. After all, a public building is constructed for the long run. Seemingly. Because here too, time intervenes. Buildings weather, acquire patina, are modified, expanded, and eventually, some day, demolished.
The design aims to offer more than a functional solution for the user. It is possible to take the main structure apart and repurpose it. The facade made from Rammed Earth wall can be taken down, reused or return to the soil.
Rammed earth is a mixture that consists out of various ingredients such as clay, loam, sand, and grinded concrete waste. The mixture used in Meise is a composition of local earth and healthy waste material that does not need to be baked and does not cause any new waste. The earth mix is carefully selected to achieve a self supporting wall and the desired color/appearance. The mix is rammed layer by layer. The wall does not form a sharp boundary with the gardens but a natural, soft transition.
