015 Concert Hall De Kreun Kortrijk

The new concert hall is a stand-alone volume, as an advance section of the Music Centre, a project that will soon be realised by the city of Kortrijk in the former Conservatory building. Because of its position, the Concert Hall delineates an entrance square to the new Music Centre in the extension of Casinoplein and forms, as it were, the fourth missing wall.

An unclear urban situation is brought into focus with attention for the qualities of Casinoplein, the existing sightlines between Grote Markt and the Conservatorium Building and the important open space behind the Conservatorium Building where important developments are expected in the medium term. At the same time, the link with the station is also made. The rectangular volume is about 30 by 20 metres and 8.5 metres high and contains a modular concert hall for 200/400/600 people with secondary functions such as dressing rooms, storage, sanitary facilities and a bar/foyer. Above the bar is an extension of the foyer or lounge from which the balcony of the hall can be reached. Two stairs to the balcony inside and outside the hall allow for free circulation between the foyer/bar and the hall.

The appearance of the concert hall is determined by white walls made of heavy masonry. The bricks are crushed with minimal staggerings and deform the facade surfaces. These take on the aspect of a sheet of paper.

Artist Benoît applies large line drawings to the white facades. These figures are executed with paint that is not or hardly visible during the day, but which acquires a luminous glow when it is dark. By day, the building will have the neutral expression of a white box shaped like a sugar cube. At night, the figures become visible and the concert hall comes to life. The large windows show the activity inside. The white exterior will contrast with the black hall, the foyer will have a mediating role.