# GHENT | Project Gent-Sint-Pieters | 90m | 276ft | 22 fl | T/O



## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

Presenting Project Gent-Sint-Pieters, a multifaceted railway station renewal and urban development project featuring a tower built for the Flemish government that will be 90m (276 ft) high. The projects architects are Jaques Voncke (station), Alain Marguerit (landscape) and Popocini&Lootens (tower). With 45.000 embarking passengers on an average day, Ghent Sint-Pieters is – depending upon the measure used – the second or third busiest railway station in Belgium. It lies on a major connection point for multiple intercity train lines. The infrastructure hasn't really caught up with the recent growth of rail traffic. Outdated cargo platforms occupy much needed space. The light rail service is heavily congested and tracks run between the entrance and the main square, hindering pedestrians. An important traffic connection ran through the station neighborhood. A big area was left underused and the buildings looked old and grimy. These buildings have now been demolished. The biggest underground carpark in the Benelux (2 800 vehicles, 10 000 bicycles) was built, featuring the foundations for a strip of redevelopment along the tracks. The light rail station will be enlarged to feature twice the amount of traffic and will be relocated beneath the platforms, diagonal to the rail tracks. The bus station, which was divided by the rail tracks, will also be integrated to this transit loop. The tower, housing Flemish government agencies, will feature a low-rise arm to engulf and embrace mobility in the top of this area. 


*Location*

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province. With 240,191 inhabitants in the beginning of 2009, Ghent is Belgium's second largest municipality by number of inhabitants. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,205 km2 (465 sq mi) and has a total population of 594,582, which ranks the fourth most populous in Belgium.


*History*

The origins of the railway station is a small station on the line Ghent-Ostend in 1881. At that time the main railway station of Ghent was the South railway station built in 1837. At the occasion of the 1913 world exhibition in Ghent, a new Sint-Pieters railway station was built. It was designed by architect Louis Cloquet and finished in 1912 just before the World Exhibition.
The station is built in an eclectic style with a long corridor dividing the building in its length which provides access to diverse facilities. A tunnel (designed by ir. P. Grondy) starting from the income hall provides access to the 12 platforms. This gives the station its cross-form design. The original waiting rooms for second and third class are now serving as a buffet and restaurant. The station was classified in 1995, this means the original building from 1913 is protected. Since 1996 the station is being renovated, with in 1998 the renovation of the interior of the western wing. The car traffic corridor was closed. An alternative connection to the city's ring way, that also opened up acces to the college. In 2007, the tower at the entrance of the station has been renovated. In 2008 a new glass canopy was placed at the main entrance. In 2010, the murals of the main entrance hall have been renovated.


*Images*

























































































​The 12 platforms will feature one continuous glass and steel canopy, about the length of the station building. Beyond that width the platforms will be covered by individual canopies.









The narrow existing corridor will be engulfed by a contiguous space beneath the tracks. Elevators and escalators in both directions (only one elevator direction per platform and one (!) elevator for the whole station currently). The commercial surface area of the station will also be enlarged considerably.









The backside of the station will get a decent acces to the station and a new square. Attached to the glass exterior facade will be colored panels, representing a platform. When a train has arrived, the corresponding panel will light up. This theme will return in other locations throughout the project area.









The station building itself is a reserved monument and has been renovated for a large portion.


















Concept images of the open corridor beneath the tracks.


















By removing the redundant cargo platforms between the passenger platforms, every platform can grow a couple of meters.








Glass wil be installed along a strip of the platform floor, allowing light to pass through all the way to minus 1, the bicycle storage level.


















By relocation the railroad, light rail and bus station in the environment, all transfers between these methods of transport will occur around a single location, named 'The Magic Triangle'.

In the future, all light rail lines servicing the main station will stop underneath it in stead of dispersed in an area over 20,000 square meters or 5 acres.









Right next to the station building, there will be a bus station accommodating 24 articulated busses beneath a steel canopy.


*Video*


20384696​

*Frequently updated photostreams*


the Belgian thread about De Link: 1 2
the Belgian thread about Project Gent-Sint-Pieters
JumpV: De Link | Project Gent-Sint-Pieters
Lander_V: De Link

*History in *

Construction of the massive car park, look at left side of the screen for reference












*Current situation*


























































































​The steel columns that will soon form a new platform, platform 12 to be specific!












































Dancing construction worker. :cheers:


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## El_Greco (Apr 1, 2005)

Its a shame they decided to stick a tower in there too. It will look horrible, especially on a rainy or overcast day. Otherwise its a nice project, sleak and well thought out.


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

I think it could be worse. I'm curious to see the other designs, as there will be multiple towers along the strip of redevelopment along the tracks. The aim is to connect two green areas on the east-west axis and connect the two station square on the north-south axis. Lower towers will be concentrated around the first towers (height 90m/276ft), moving west there will be a neighborhood center, a sporting hall, a medium supermarket, a daycare center,... Amenities this neighborhood didn't have until now. Moving to the westmost area, the area will be the greenest, connecting to the Blaarmeersen recreational park over the water. There will be another tower of about 90m / 267 ft built here. Foundations were prepared in the underground car park, which you can see being built in ther first post. 

Remember that an elevated platform will be built on the second floor, along with the arm. The unfinished portion of the building is a good indicator of the profile of the arm. Pictures are not mine, you can check out more recent pictures in the first post:


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

El_Greco said:


> Its a shame they decided to stick a tower in there too. It will look horrible, especially on a rainy or overcast day. Otherwise its a nice project, sleak and well thought out.


Do you think that is due to its design or just to the fact that it's a tower?

The thing is, the project development is a key factor to the success of the reconstruction of the station. It's basically an entirely new station behind an old station building. It involves a lot of underground construction, a couple of new tunnels, and entirely new platforms - all of which is to be constructed without interrupting train traffic (it must be noted that this station is the second most important hub in Belgian train traffic).

That costs a fortune. A big part of that fortune will come from the project development new to the station, on the grounds that used to be a freight station. In order to get a profit out of that development you need to build plenty of surface on a relatively small plot of land. This will necessitate several midrises, of which that one will be the first and probably the tallest. On the other hand it's also functional in terms of mobility: this way a lot of people can work right next to their train station. It saves them a transfer or two, or a lot of driving and parking troubles.

So: no towers, no station. It's that simple.


Designwise: this was selected after a design competition. There were more flashy things in that competition, but flashy isn't necessarily better. All things considered I think the best design won. Sure enough the cladding is grey, with warm tones, but it's brick and not concrete, and so far I've only seen it with cloudy weather and it's not displeasing.


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## El_Greco (Apr 1, 2005)

Design mainly; its lazy and almost 60s like - the worst kind of architecture. It also looks like it was just planted there with no thought and consideration for the surroundings whatsoever... Although Id rather have no tower at all. A low-rise with a bit of flair would have been a for more attractive choice. Something that would compliment the elegant old station building.


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

A low-rise wouldn't cover the costs of the infrastructure. This isn't London where office space can be rented at astronomical prices. People seem to forget that money is the most crucial aspect of any project. No money, no project. Besides of that it would also be unwise to build only very limited office surfaces so close to such an important and busy railway station.

It's not lazy architecture either, by the way. I've visited the construction site with an engineer more than once and there's a couple of engineering niceties involved. There's more consideration put into the surroundings than you might think at first sight. I agree it might seem awkward that the entrance is at an elevated level, but that's due to the fact that the street level is taken by a big bus station. An entrance there wouldn't be very... charming. The elevated entrance gives any visitor a balcony from which one gets a nice view over the station area.

Two other sides of the tower also border infrastructure. There's only one street side to it, which is deliberately kept low, at about the same height as the building on the opposite side of the street. The tower itself is one of the few elements in the masterplan that are allowed to stick out of the '45° envelope'. More than one study has been conducted on the effects of this building and the other future midrise developments; all have concluded that effects are minimal.


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## El_Greco (Apr 1, 2005)

It is lazy architecture - an ugly box that looks like it came from a drawing desk of some architect from the 60s! It detracts awfully from the elegant station building too. Surely a more imaginative and attractive solution was possible?


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

Hardly. Have to consider budgets. "Ugly" is a personal appreciation about which discussions are pointless. Box on the other hand... Any odd shape in concrete costs a multiple of a standard rectangle or square. It's not one box, but two intersecting boxes of different proportions combined with a low-rise arm that separates the bus station from the residential areas.

Besides, you base your judgement upon pictures and renderings that intend on showing what that office tower will look like, so obviously it distracts all attention from the station in those images, because it is intended as the subject of the pictures. In reality it is less dominant. Further more, the building will in fact offer a public lookout spot from where anyone can see the station from an entirely new perspective, and obviously without the tower behind it 

A flashy high-budget tower would distract a lot more from the station building.


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## El_Greco (Apr 1, 2005)

Which is why I said that a low-rise with a bit of flair would have been a much better and indeed a more attractive choice. With some planning and thought it would have been possible to cover costs and produce something memorable. Sadly it is always the cost that does the talking...The result of this is dull/ugly buildings that blight the urban landscape for years to come. Aesthetics are ignored.


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

They're anything but ignored in this build. I don't know how familiar you are with our skyline, but rest assure: this building will not ruin anything.


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

Dequal said:


> *1.*
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Activity has been focused around the cantilevers, to bring that area 'up to speed' so the 'footprint' takes the form it will have the next 13 floors. A new crane has also been erected.


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## ranny fash (Apr 24, 2005)

I agreed with El Greco for a minute, and still do to a certain extent. But picture 1 in the last post looks really cool. That brick cladding is nice! And the composition of the photo looks really cool with all the straight lines! They should stop building and leave it like that, it would be a really interesting building as it is...with the rest of the project finished of course. Purely aesthetics from me there, no thought for practicalities!

El Greco, I'm with you on the renders though, they look bad imo.


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

*Update 12/05/2012* 



Dequal said:


> *1.*
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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

I took some shots today


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)




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## CF221 (Mar 17, 2009)

The tower looks a little bit outdated in looks. Ruins the whole historical area imho according to the presented renderings. Maybe it turns out to be much better than expected visually. It will hopefully be so.


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)




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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

The first rebar for the columns underneath the arm of the building has arrived, now waiting for a pour. Cellphone pic from G-4-EVer:



G-4-Ever said:


> De eerste bewapening voor de kolommen onder het uiteinde van de zijarm zitten klaar. GSM-foto van deze middag:
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## angelinaB (May 31, 2012)

Wow! That was amazing. That will make a country progressive and rich.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Nice development project, it looks very clean and attractive on the rendered images.


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

Some views from a distance of the tower that's U/C next to the station:



*1.*










With a nice summery sky. Notice the skyline of the western parts in the middle of this view and the historical skyline to the right.​


*2.*










The western skyline of Ghent ​


*3.*










Focus on Saint Peter railway station.​


*4.*










And now on the tower itself. The height of the crane is at 60m right now, but material has been delivered to make it climb up to 120m next week. The tower itself will peak at 90m, so the facade is about halfway up.​


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

From an observation deck in the city center:




Jongeheer said:


> ​


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

I took the liberty of translating and editing your post Puinkabouter, I hope that's ok?



Puinkabouter said:


> *1.*
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## WC_EEND (Jan 31, 2011)

Photo update from today by me. 


2012-08-22 08.59.49 on Flickr
The new railway viaduct for platform 12


2012-08-22 09.02.10 on Flickr
The viaduct again, with the "De Link" tower under construction in the background.


2012-08-22 09.03.05 on Flickr
A pole which will support the roof. 


2012-08-22 09.03.45 on Flickr
One of the 4 support poles for the new back of the station, freshly delivered.


2012-08-22 09.06.53 on Flickr
Some more work on platform 12


2012-08-22 09.08.52 on Flickr
More work on platform 12


2012-08-22 09.09.06 on Flickr
Overview of the new platform (also note the elevator under construction)


2012-08-22 09.12.53 on Flickr
"De Link" tower (will be 90m) under construction


2012-08-22 09.13.39 on Flickr
Laying the new tracks for platform 12.


2012-08-22 09.15.16 on Flickr
A "decorated" train.


2012-08-22 09.19.25 on Flickr
The new bus station


2012-08-22 09.20.59 on Flickr
Construction on the arm of "De Link"


2012-08-22 09.21.25 on Flickr
Construction on the arm of "De Link" 


2012-08-22 09.23.33 on Flickr
The same construction from a different point of view.


2012-08-22 09.23.56 on Flickr
A new pedestrian bridge.


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

^^ Most people here have very little notion of what this project is about, where it comes from or where it is headed. A few words of complementary explanation with your pictures could be useful


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## WC_EEND (Jan 31, 2011)

^^ That's a very good point actually (I basically just copy-pasted my post from the thread in the Gent subforum), I edited the descriptions in now though.


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

Some pictures taken on tuesday *28-08-2012*:



*1.*










A view from the U/C office tower next to the station.​


*2.*










A soaring piece of fine engineering.​


*3.*










Little bonus: the other end of the station square.​


*4.*










Overview of the old station complex, including the historical station building (°1912).​


*5.*










A strip of concrete has been poured in this inclination. It's not definitive, as this is bound to become a garden (cf. renderings in the first post of this thread). It will be used to access the underground bicycle depot. The permanent access to that depot will probably be finished next year, as it is temporarily swallowed up by the construction yard of that tower.​


*6.*










The elevator shaft is quicky being wrapped up in concrete. It's a very fast progress: this picture was taken yesterday evening, but this morning the whole thing was covered.​


*7.*










New railway viaduct between the former tram and pedestrian tunnels.​


*8.*










Now this still feels like the outside of the station, but pretty soon this area will lie behind a glass facade and be part of the interior of the complex.​


*9.*










Old & new ​


*10.*










A future corridor.​


*11.*










On to the steel framework: the first fragment of the big canopy that will be built over all the platforms in the next years. Notice that the lower tubes, that will carry the facade, are already taller than the average house in that area. The canopy will reach even higher. It's going to stand out, that's a sure thing.​


*12.*










It takes some imagination to see it, but in time this patch of land will become a second station square at the rear side of the complex.​


*13.*










*14.*










The perspective from some of the streets in the area will change heavily because of the new canopy. Instead of a discrete grayish-brown brick wall with a dilapidated green shelter on top, there will be a remarkable construction in steel and glass at the horizon.​


*15.*










For the time being, the station looks even more underwhelming to the average traveler than it used to. It consists partially of containers...​


*16.*










Platform 10.​


*17.*










Compare the size of that thing to those guys at work ​


*18.*


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

Pics taken during crane jump two months ago




svendebiscop said:


>


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

A selection of pictures from an update, made yesterday *2012-10-31*:



*The Station:*











The south facade is coming along nicely. All of the steel framework has been put into place. It's already hard to imagine this used to be little more than a brick wall with a small door!











I found this kind of quirky. Along the entire length of the facade there are green straps attached to a big steel beam, and at one point, there are weights hanging on them. I don't have the technical expertise to explain this.











Platform 12 will be the first new platform in use, by the end of this month. There is no platform 11 for the moment, and platform 9/10 allows us to make a comparison between the old and the new.











Old vs. new!











As Ghent is a city with lots of students and it is pretty flat, bicycles are a very popular mode of transport to and from the station. A lot of temporary measures have been taken to provide space to put these vehicles, like here, at the south side of the station.











A new underground bicycle parking will be built underneath the station. Most of it will only be available when the entire station is finished, around 2020... But one part has recently opened to the public. To get there, cyclists have to use this tunnel. It is not its definitive function: it was designed for cars, and leads to and underground Kiss & Ride / Taxi zone. Cyclists will have their own, separate slope underneath that office building in the background, but it's not accessible as long as construction on that building hasn't finished.











That's the underground K&R/Taxi area.











And this is the new bycicle parking. It will extend a lot deeper in the future, all the way to level -1 beneath platform 12, but for now it ends where the railway bundle begins (above ground).


This was a selection of pictures. More can bee seen on the Belgian section. Comments are mainly in Dutch, but it's open to everyone, in any language: CLICK!​



*The Office Building*












As seen from the opposite side of the station square (Maria-Hendrikaplein).











Since a long time before the project, the inner area of the station square has been a nice park-like area with a circle of trees. This will not change.











All four tram lines in the city are currently interrupted because of either works at the station or elsewhere. Lines 1 and 4 are currently the only ones to be spotted around this station. Line 1 will resume its route beyond the station to the expo area, and doing so, it will pass underneath the low-rise arm of the office building. The line was cut short to allow the construction of the building to start.

In the future, all tram lines that pass by the station, will pass underneath the building.











This is the low-rise part of the building. It was erected in about 3 months. The dense forest of steel columns that supported it have recently been removed.











The overhead tram cables have been installed, anchored in the ceiling/floor of the building.











The rear side. These are stairs that lead to the underground bicycle parking I showed earlier in this update.











Let's take a more distant view to look at the tower section of the complex. The facade hasn't grown in 6 or 7 weeks, but I believe the core has reached its final height. There are two reasons for this: most of the builders were put to work on the low-rise, to reduce the time period in which tram line 1 had to be cut. And the other reason is that in september, some steel cables that stabilize the building have snapped. Not many details have been shared with the world, but apparently the issue should be resolved and the facade will start growing again sometime this month.











From the opposite side of the tracks.











This tunnel was built as a temporary (well, 10 years at least) deviation for trams. It will later be incorporated in the hall underneath the platforms.











For now, the tower is very visible from the platforms, but this will change when the canopy is finished. After that, it will only be sporadically be visible from the inside of the station.











Another entrance point to that underground bicycle/K&R/Taxi zone. This is a temporary ramp for cyclers. In the future, this will be a garden, only to be used by pedestrians.











Bonus: the office tower as seen from an elevated location deeper into the city center. The other tower in the background is the recently completed KBC-Artelde Tower (119m). Both at the railway station as around that taller tower, more tall buildings will appear in the next two decades.



This was a selection of pictures. More can bee seen on the Belgian section. Comments are mainly in Dutch, but it's open to everyone, in any language: CLICK!​


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

News about the grounds next to the station:











Behind the office tower that's U/C in the pictures above, an app. 1 mile stretch of land will be developed, with a mixture of functions and building types, gradually changing from an urban to a more suburban typology.

Individual projects will be built at the pace of the real estate market, not necessarily all at once. They will be individually designed, but under supervision of the city's planning authorities. 

Two more towers will be built directly behind the first one. It was recently decided that one will be 60m, the other will reach up to 90m. The drawing only illustrates these general dimensions, not the design specifics. It is rumored that one of these towers will have a public top floor.

Both towers will be residential, but with offices at the base. The roof area of their 'pedestal' will most likely be a garden for the inhabitants. They will be built here:











I expect an actual design to be published somewhere in 2013

Two more project will probably go U/C in 2013, are a workshop for the national railway company, and regional headquarters for a bank. The railway workshop, that will also include offices, will reach 55m, but will probably have a pretty bland design. No detailed renderings have been published.

The regional bank HQ will be around 40 meters, and is designed by Asymptote Architecture (cf. Yaz hotel in Abu Dhabi):





















^^ That's the boxy volume on the far right of the first picture. This is the location, as photographed in august:












Foundations for all these buildings were already built along with an underground parking garage.


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

More detailed renderings of the twin towers. They'll be 65m and 90m tall and residential, with offices in the shared base:













​


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## Jongeheer (Sep 19, 2010)

Thanks!


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

A small update:



*The Station*


There are hardly any visually striking advances in the construction process of the station to be reported since the last update in this thread (oct. 31 2012, cf. supra), as most works since then have been preparatory to the excavation of tracks 9 and 10. One thing that did change is the introduction of the brand-new platform 12 into regular service:












It's only half a platform right now, as it will be shared with track 11. For that track, a new viaduct has to be constructed first, which will happen in the course of this year. Until then, this is only a glimpse of what the future will bring for Belgium's third-busiest railway station. This picture was taken in november. It has undergone some more finishing since then.

This is the gap between platform 12 and platform 7/8. Tracks 9, 10 and 11 are missing:












And underneath platform 12, there have been works on the underground level of the station - practically entirely meant to become a bicycle depot (for 10.000 bicycles).












*The Office Tower*


Just a couple of pictures from december and january 























































*Lot B1 (ING HQ - Asymptote Architecture)*


Building permit for ING regional HQ has been declined. This means that the following building will not be built - at least not in this form:










The reason being it's "too large-scale". The surface of 20.000 sq. metres exceeded the stipulated maximum of 17.000 for this lot. There was also a negative comment about the concrete sheds, which would claim too much public space.

A whole bunch of drawings and renderings can be found in the following document, along with plenty of explanation in English (it's drawn by Asymptote, an American architecture firm): CLICK!​


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## L e o n i d a s (May 3, 2012)

Sorry for the double post.


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## L e o n i d a s (May 3, 2012)

The tower looks like it's an old bitch from the 60's ready for demolition. It's almost an achievement to be able to design a building that looks terribly dated already. A waste, because the plans around it seem quite decent. I'm still unsure whether the old facade of the station (which is beautiful btw) will keep it's charm.

Ghent deserves so much better than this imo.


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

Opinions are very varied on the Belgian section, ranging from similar to the above to rather satisfied - like me. Here's another update about the tower, which is topped out since about a week or two:



*De Link / Virginie Lovelingtoren* _(Office - 90m)_











As seen from the nearby Citadelpark.











From Maria-Hendrikaplein, the station square.











Along the Koningin Fabiolalaan. Not very visible due to all the construction stuff, but the 0 level is open, and already functions as a corridor for buses and trams.











From plot B1, where ING planned to build their new regional HQ with a design by Asymptote, which was declined by the city's planning bureau due to "too massive". The Queen towers (see below) will be built right in front of De Link when seen from this perspective.











From the other side of the railway station. As you can see in this picture, the colored-glass sound barrier along track 12 of the station is finished, and platform 10 has been demolished.











Cladding on the lowrise part of the complex is nearly finished. Most of the complex is cladded in bricks in different shades of grey, but the inner part has a different cladding in architectonic concrete.











The edges seem a little rugged at this time. An elevated esplanade is still underway here, as the entrance to this building will be situated at the +1 level.​


And as this one tower has topped out, new renderings have been released about the 'twin towers' that are to rise up behind it after this one is completed. They will be 90m & 65m tall residential highrises with office space at the base. Their name has been changed into "Queen Towers", a reference to its proximity to the Koningin Fabiolalaan, named after Belgium's last queen.



*Queen Towers* _(mixed-use, 90m & 65m)_



56935855

An introduction in English!


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

The station on *19-03-2013*:












A view of the esplanade west of the station. It's surrounded by, well, nothing really. But in it will be surrounded by new developments soon, as it will not remain limited to just that one office tower (cf. the post before this one).











The rear side of the station where most of the action is taking place.











The old rail embankment, where track 10 used to be, has been dug away between the temporary tram tunnel and the old road tunnel.











Most of it is still there, though. They're still putting a pile wall in place to keep the old platforms in place. They're still in (intensive) use!











Steel beams have been jammed into the ground and now they're shoving piles between them. Once that's finished, they will start digging out what's left of the embankment.











Meanwhile, there's also construction going on underneath the new-built (and in-use) platform 12. You can see that one of the current projects is an entryway to the -1 level, the future bicycle depot. It will run underneath all 12 tracks, and grow along with them, until it reaches the underground depot that already exists on the other side of the station (cf. supra).











As I mentioned, and even though it's only in a half-finished stage, platform 12 is already in use for trains running from Brussels to the sea.











More stuff going on behind the station. Don't really know what, exactly.











Fresh soil has arrived in what will soon become the sloping garden between the front of the station and the -1 taxi-/Kiss & Ride/Bicycle drop-off zone.











This part of the square, between all those tram rails, will also be incorporated into the already existing green core of Maria-Hendrika square.


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## G-4-Ever (Jan 13, 2009)

Update tower (mobile photos) on *24-04-2013*


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

After almost an entire year, it's about time this thread sees another update. This page is pretty heavy with photo material already, so I'm going to split this up into 2 posts, and keep it short. I advise people who want to see more photos to the Belgian forum:


The Station: 21 photos
The office building: 20 photos


Pictures taken on friday *24-01-2014*. Here we go:



*The Station*











This is the new facade of the station, which used to be nothing more than a brick wall with a small door. Biggest difference with the last update above, is the presence of glass in the frames, colored LED-panels that light up when a train arrives at their corresponding platforms, and an all-new, big clock!











Construction work is pretty complicated. In order to keep disruption of train traffic to the bare minimum, the rail viaducts are built up first, and underground construction continues later on. When I was passing by, they were pouring concrete for the walls of a buffer basin, for the collection of rain water that falls on the future canopy of the station.











The viaduct for track 12 was finished well over a year ago. Since then, half of the viaduct for tracks 10 and 11 has been erected. Soon, demolition of the old platform 10 will be completed and construction of its replacement will commence. For safety reasons, platform 12 will be taken out of service until the end of the year. This means the station is now down to 75% of its full capacity.

Also note that the -1 level is being dug out now, _after_ the viaducts have already been built. Complex engineering stuff.











This is the view from platform 9 towards platform 12. Platform 9/10 is now down to half its original size, as platform 10 has been torn down some time ago.











This is soon to become track 11. On the other side of the concrete border, track 10 will be built this year.











Old & new.​


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## Puinkabouter (Jan 8, 2007)

*The Office Tower:*





















The concrete path on the foreground is a temporary entrance to the bicycle depot. The definitive one is underneath the building itself. When that has been cleared out completely, this one will be turned into a flower garden with a winding path - pedestrian-only.











Most of the work on the outside has been finished months ago. The only thing you can still see happening from the street level, is the installation of the parapet along the elevated plaza and the ramp that leads to it. Here, you can also see the definitive entrance to the bicycle depot.











When you're cycling out of the depot, the columns that support the building offer a nice frame around the view of the station.




















Walking through the underground bicycle depot, you'll end up on this sunken plaza on the other side of the tower. Right now it's totally empty and dead, because there's still too much construction going on in the neighborhood. When the development of these grounds has advanced a bit more, this will probably transform into a busier, livelier place with shops and cafés.

The development masterplan comprises a low-to-mid-rise building next to the tower, in front of the control center (the building with the wavy roof). Probably between 5 and 10 floors. The office tower is definitely not going to remain as solitary as it looks today.











This view should also drastically change over the next five years. Twin residential towers have received a building permit last summer. Although a nimby-commission has filed a complaint with the regional government, construction should start in the first half of this year, right next to the control center (the wavy-roof-building).

Closer by, where the parked cars are, the Dutch bank ING wanted to build their regional HQ, designed by Asymptote Architecture. You can find renderings by scrolling up on this page. It's supposed to become this diamond-like glass thing supported by concrete that's patterned to emulate lacework. Sadly, not only a nimby-commission but even city council itself seem opposed to this building, calling it 'too big for this area' (almost 20.000 square meters). It think that's a load of bull, if anywhere, this belongs next to a busy railway station. But a judge will have to decide on it.











This part of town was predominantly built between the wars. It's mixed in scale, with apartment buildings reaching up to 8 floors. Bricks are the dominant material and that's reflected in the new office building.

Right now, the perspective through this street still appears open, but as mentioned above, the space between the control center and the street will be built up over the next few years. Most of those buildings have yet to be designed.​

I would like to repeat that more extensive photo series can be found on the Belgian section:



The Station: 21 photos
The office building: 20 photos


Those are in Dutch but questions and remarks are welcome in any language you desire (although I would suggest limiting it to English, French or German), and in this thread too, obviously


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