Barco One Campus Press Release May 2016

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ABOUT JASPERS-EYERS ARCHITECTS

Jaspers-Eyers & Partners is a global practice offering full services in architecture, masterplanning, space planning, program-ming, building analysis and interior design. Michel Jaspers founded the practice in 1960, and today has more than 40 years of experience in all different aspects of the profession. At present John Eyers and his son Jean-Michel Jaspers have joined him as associated partners, and together they make a strong team that will lead the practice to new and forthcoming challenges. The projects range from corporate headquarters, large urban masterplans, high-rise commercial structures, public and govern-mental buildings, cultural, leisure and residential facilities to manufacturing and historical refurbishment. The work of the prac-tice has been widely exhibited and honored and at present a team of 120 people are practicing from three locations: Brussels, Leuven and Hasselt. Use of the latest technologies and international cooperations make it possible to serve clients all over the world, as is shown in the large expansion of ongoing international projects located from Warsaw to Tokio.

Barco, the Flemish international player in terms of visual technology, can now shine even brighter with its incredible new headquarters. Jaspers-Eyers Archi-tects has given the company a base of operations with international appeal in the form of ‘The Circle’, a centralised building on the Kortrijk site. The circular, trans-parent icon must serve as a connective element for the tech giant’s employees and visitors.

INFORMATION TECHNIQUE PROJECT construction of BARCO’s HQ and Rese-arch center CLIENT BARCO LOCATION Kennedypark Kortrijk, Belgium BUDGET € 50 000 000 TIMETABLE 2011-2016 TEAM Jaspers-Eyers Architects (architecte)VK Engineering (ingénieurs) Cordeel (entrepreneur général)

A new headquarterswith internationalappeal

The new Kortrijk campus is an extension of the old Barco buildings. The company needed a single, centralised infrastructure because the distance between the sites in Kortrijk and the buildings in Kuurne was costing the employees too much time. Close to the E17 and just 20 minutes from the Lille metropolis, Barco wants to make a statement with the new building and de-monstrate the company’s values.

Anchoring in the surroundings Together with the two other major clusters, the AZ Groeninge hospital and the Kortrijk Xpo showrooms, the new campus serves as one of the anchoring points to the sou-th of the city. In time, approximately 1,500 employees will start to work there.The Barco site is situated between two existing business parks - the Kennedypark and the new Beneluxpark - and thus forms a connective element. Jean-Michel Jas-pers: “The two connective poles of the site run through both business parks and au-tomatically create two axes, around which the Barco campus has been developed. This system of axes is the foundation stone upon which the site will grow and to which new buildings can be added.”Landscape elements, such as the pond that visually runs through the site into the building and the allée along both axes, support the basic structure. The car park is kept out of view using strategically placed berms.

Dynamics and compactness

The core of the site, ‘The Circle’, is a cir-cular space that is 75 metres in diameter and 25 metres tall. The new headquarters has a surface area of 30,000 m² and, in addition to the office spaces, also houses the research and development spaces, a demonstration space, an auditorium, and a company restaurant for the 1,500 campus employees and the international visitors.“The circular shape of the new headquar-ters exudes dynamics and compactness: a powerful concept with a unique mix of materials,” says John Eyers. “With its pro-duction units in one side and the office spaces in the other, ‘The Circle’ serves as the central point on the plan and the con-nective element between the various parts of the site. This link is not only visually and spatially important, it also serves a physical purpose: ‘The Circle’ is a hinge point, a 3D framework in which all functions collide.”The unusual circular shapes in the design and the sophisticated connections via pas-serelles ‘force’ employees to bump into one another, which creates a lively ambian-ce inside. It’s a conscious choice to break down the hierarchy and take advantage of the building’s social function.

Meeting point

The ground floor, called the Atrium, con-tains the auditorium, the reception area and the company restaurant. If you go higher up, you will find the landscape offices, R&D facilities, the training rooms, and the oval meeting decks, which house meeting rooms and the board room. Once inside, visitors enter a pedestrian flow that takes them through the various departments in the new headquarters. Long pedestrian walkways and a network of lifts connect the various parts, as well as avoiding a maze of stairways.

Corridors exiting out onto the Atrium create a connection within ‘The Circle’ to the other buildings, such as The Lab (a research lab), The Pulse (an additional office building), and The Engine (an expansion of the exi-sting production units). This gives the buil-ding more of a centralised, interactive pur-pose on the campus.

“The high-tech side of the building con-trasts with, yet still flows over the organic aspects of the surrounding environment,” says Bruno Poelman, project manager at Jaspers-Eyers. “Every building has been given green roofs and the large pond is visually brought into the building. Every visitor has a panoramic view of the green spaces from anywhere in ‘The Circle’. The building even creates a link with the out-doors as it goes up. The lighting appears to be randomly scattered over the surfaces and makes one think of a starry sky, espe-cially at night.”

Warm, inviting spaces

Visitors enter ‘The Circle’ via the water element. The design of the reception area then leads visitors easily to the reception desk. “A floating space will ensure that this desk is screened off from the back office without losing sight of the overall space. At the same time, a wooden wall screens off

the back office and creates a clear point of recognition at the entrance,” explains Poel-man.

The adjacent restaurant is a fluid, inviting space that also serves as an informal meet-ing room or training location. The various table layouts and the small, integrated screens support this purpose. The res-taurant is very open, with a pontoon that extends out over the water, directly con-necting with the R&D building. However, there is a minimum of scent and acoustic disruption thanks to the roof structure’s shelter and the various height differences. The restaurant tables are white with black supports, paired with light grey chairs. Ac-cent colours - such as chairs in light verdi-gris green and petroleum blue - are sca-ttered throughout the space. This creates a play between coincidental combinations without the accent colours loudly domina-ting the entire space, which gives the res-taurant a sleek, Scandinavian feel.

The meeting decks above the restaurant are done in steel, with slender support co-lumns at an acute angle. These give the space a floating appearance and help to define the restaurant space. The slanted layout of the elliptical meeting decks cre-ates terraces from which the passerelles start and give the space a three-dimensio-nal appearance. The space is finished with Plexiglas plates that beautifully accentuate the rounded edges of the ellipses. These give the outside a solid appearance; but when inside, the visitors can look straight through it. Warm materials were selected to finish the furniture on the ground floor. The wooden furniture gives the building a hu-man aspect. The wooden wall at the recep-tion desk - with oak veneer and top layers from composite materials - is carried into the other zones, such as the restaurant. The choice to use a single material creates unity between the various zones within the larger space, without any of these over-whelming the others.

Clear and transparent

‘The Circle’ gets the maximum amount of daylight and transparency thanks to the completely glass façade. “The clear glass contrasts beautifully with the inset ramp, which adds relief and depth to the buil-ding,” says Max Herman, designer at Jas-pers-Eyers. “Three horizontal rows of cof-fering run along the other sides to provide protection from the sun. They have been designed this way to guarantee the pano-ramic view at each eye line.”Concrete and steel play leading roles in the design, in addition to the transparent, glass façade. Steel supporting elements in a crossed structure help support the roof because these supporting columns are incorporated into the building’s interior. A steel structure was also the best option for the meeting decks. The passerelles to the fixed cores of the building balance the structure and the steel columns under the space ensure a floating effect.The major spaces, such as the training centre and the R&D facilities, are concre-te constructions with columns. Beams are absent to make room for the technical as-pects, and an extra light floor, poured on-si-te, provides the necessary stability and can bear heavy loads.

Standard-bearer for new technology

The outer parts of the inner volumes are finished with a taut banner, which creates a sleek, even surface with lovely curves. In the future, Barco will be able to project ima-ges on these surfaces using its own tech-nology. This is how the company wants to turn the new building into the standard-be-arer for its own high-tech products.

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‘A glass frame shows an open space full of activity.The glasswindows offer an abundance

of daylight.’

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Internal CohesionOpenness to the world

Landscaping Parking facilities

New intervention Landscaping

Axes site Future office development

Connective element

The Barco site is described as a campus on which all of the buildings are embed-ded as a single unit. The project is situated between two existing business parks - the Kennedypark and the new Beneluxpark - and thus forms a connective element. Jean-Michel Jaspers: “The two connective poles of the site run through both business parks and automatically create two axes, around which the Barco campus has been

developed. This system of axes is the foun-dation stone upon which the site will grow and to which new buildings can be added.” The basic structure will be given supportive landscape elements, such as the pond that visually runs into the building and the allée along both axes.

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Barco in Kortrijk

masterplan Barco site, Kortrijk

Barco, a global player in terms of visual technology, has expanded its Kortrijk site to include a headquarters with an interna-tional appearance. Close to major transport axes, such as the E17, and just 20 minu-tes from the Lille metropolis, Barco wants to make a statement with the new building

and demonstrate the company’s values. To-gether with the two other major clusters, the AZ Groeninge hospital and the Kortrijk Xpo showrooms, it serves as one of the ancho-ring points to the south of the city and clearly takes its place in the social environment.

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A new identity Meeting point

The new headquarters - called ‘The Circle’ - has a surface area of 30,000 m² and, in addition to the office spaces, also houses the research and development spaces, a demonstration space, an auditorium, and a company restaurant for the 1,500 campus employees and the international visitors.With its production units in one side and the

office spaces in the other, ‘The Circle’ serves as the central point on the plan and the con-nective element between the various parts of the site. This link is not only visually and spatially important, it also serves a physical purpose: ‘The Circle’ is a hinge point, a 3D framework in which all functions collide. The unusual circular shapes in the design and

the sophisticated connections via passerel-les ‘force’ employees to bump into one ano-ther, which creates a lively ambiance inside. It’s a conscious choice to break down the hierarchy and take advantage of the buil-ding’s social function.

The ground floor, called the Atrium, contains the auditorium, the reception area and the company restaurant. If you go higher up, you will find the landscape offices, R&D faci-lities, the training rooms, and the oval meet-ing decks, which house meeting rooms and the board room. Once inside, visitors enter a pedestrian flow that takes them through the

various departments in the new headquar-ters. “The departments create organic nests within the glass outer framework,” clarifies Bruno Poelman, project manager at Jas-pers-Eyers. “Long pedestrian walkways and a network of lifts connect the various parts to each other, as well as avoiding a maze of stairways.”

Corridors exiting out onto the Atrium create a connection within ‘The Circle’ to the other buildings, such as The Lab (a research lab), The Pulse (an additional office building), and The Engine (an expansion of the existing production units). This gives the building more of a centralised, interactive purpose on the campus.

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early morning in the atrium

‘The employees receive training in a triangle, do research in a half circle, have meetings in

ovals and demonstrations high in the sky.’

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ground floor level 4

Programmatic Layout

HALF DECK

QUARTER

DECK

MEETING

DECK

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Open restaurant

The adjacent restaurant is a fluid, inviting space that also serves as an informal meet-ing room or training location. The various ta-ble layouts and the small, integrated screens support this purpose. The restaurant is very open, with a pontoon that extends out over the water, directly connecting with the R&D

building. However, there is a minimum of scent and acoustic disruption thanks to the roof structure’s shelter and the various height differences.The restaurant tables are white with black supports, paired with light grey chairs. Ac-cent colours - such as chairs in light ver-

digris green and petroleum blue - are sca-ttered throughout the space. This creates a play between coincidental combinations without the accent colours loudly domina-ting the entire space, which gives the restau-rant a sleek, Scandinavian feel.

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Meeting decks Exuding warmth

The meeting decks are done in steel, with slender support columns at an acute angle, which gives the entire space a floating ef-fect. The slanted layout of the elliptical forms creates terraces from which the passerelles start and give the space a three-dimensio-nal appearance. The space is finished with

Plexiglas plates that beautifully accentuate the rounded edges of the ellipses. From a distance, these give the outside a solid ap-pearance; but when inside, the visitors can look straight through it..

Warm materials were selected to finish the furniture on the ground floor. The wooden furniture gives the building a human aspect. The wooden wall at the reception desk - with oak veneer and top layers from composite materials - is carried into the other zones, such as the restaurant. Here, the wooden

facing extends over one wall, a raised floor and the stage element. The choice to use a single material creates unity between the va-rious zones within the larger space, without any of these overwhelming the others.

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Transparency and light Glass, concrete and steel

‘The Circle’ gets the maximum amount of daylight and transparency thanks to the completely glass façade. The north-facing façade, which gets a lower sunlight inten-sity, was made as transparent as possible. “The clear glass contrasts beautifully with the inset ramp, which adds relief and depth to the building,” says Max Herman, designer at Jaspers-Eyers. Steel supporting elements in a crossed structure at the top help sup-

port the façade because these supporting columns are incorporated into the building’s interior.Inventive sun-protection solutions had to be designed for the other sides. Max Herman: “Three horizontal rows of coffering run along these other sides to provide protection from the sun, having been positioned just so, which allows you to continue to enjoy the panoramic view, while sitting or standing.”

Concrete and steel play leading roles in the Jaspers-Eyers design, in addition to the transparent, glass façade. This allows the crossed steel inner structure to bear the load of the roof. The load-bearing steel columns are slightly integrated so that the glass façades are given all the space. A steel structure was also the best option for the

meeting decks. The passerelles to the fixed cores of the building balance the structure and the steel columns under the space en-sure a floating effect.The major spaces, such as the training cen-tre and the R&D facilities, are concrete con-structions with columns. Beams are absent to make room for the technical aspects, and

an extra light floor, poured on-site, provides the necessary stability and can bear heavy loads.

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Connecting to the outside

The glass façade allows ‘The Circle’ to clear-ly connect with the outdoor surroundings; not just by taking advantage of the pano-ramic views, but also by carrying the water element inside the building. Even though the interior and exterior water basins are sepa-rate from one another, it appears that the water is pulled into the building using two sleek lines. The main entrance leads visitors

along one of these lines and into the centre of ‘The Circle’.The building even creates a link with the outdoors as it goes up. The lighting appears to be randomly scattered over the surfaces and makes one think of a starry sky, especi-ally at night. The whimsical roof structure is one of the reasons that such unpredictable light lines were chosen.

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Comfortable climate Ushered in

‘The Circle’ is a high-performance building in terms of insulation and technology; its three major spaces each have their own climato-logical demands. Poelman: “For example, the R&D environment has a high cooling load due to the heat emitted by the high-tech machinery. Climate control here is com-posed of traditional split units. The training rooms also need a lot of cooling because

of all the people there. A NECAP ceiling has been installed there, which is also beneficial in terms of acoustics within the spaces.”The glass constructions in ‘The Circle’ na-turally raise the temperature as well. In or-der to provide enough air conditioning, the passerelles between the various levels are fitted with additional cooling beams. All of the terraces around the meeting rooms are

also fitted with in-floor cooling, in addition to the in-floor cooling and heating in the Atrium on the ground floor. Plenum boxes distribute heated or cooled air around the space here using air displacement.

The design of the reception area leads vi-sitors easily to the reception desk. “A floating space will ensure that this desk is screened off from the back office without losing sight of the overall space,” explains Bruno Poel-man. “Long tiles clearly indicate the direc-tion of the space, while at the same time, a wooden wall screens off the back office and creates a clear point of recognition at the entrance.”

The outer parts of the inner volumes are fi-nished with a taut banner, which creates a sleek, even surface with lovely curves. In the future, Barco will be able to project images on these surfaces using its own technology. This also immediately reveals one of the functions of the new building: to be a stan-dard-bearer for Barco products.

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Future planned expansion possibilities

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press@jaspers-eyers.be www.jaspers-eyers.be

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PhotographiePhilippe Van Gelooven

Jean-Michel BylKlaas Verdru

Texte Jeroen Schreurs

Sara Deckers