University of Groningen

• Date 1995-2001
• Address Grote Kruisstraat, Nieuwe Kijk in Het Jatstraat – 9712 CP Groningen (Netherlands)

In 1995, the University of Groningen, a major city in the far north of the Netherlands, commissioned Vandenhove to design an extension to its Faculty of Social Sciences. The brief was very straightforward, combining lecture theatres and offices. The building was to be situated within the Hortustuin botanical gardens on a corner plot formed by two streets with distinct atmospheres. The Grote Kruisstraat is dominated by public buildings, notably a four-storey modernist-style block, whilst the Nieuwe Kijk in Het Jatstraat, which is more residential, is lined with small terraced houses. Vandenhove therefore designed his project to blend in as seamlessly as possible with its surroundings. Facing the residential street, two single-storey buildings are linked by a fully glazed structure that reveals a centuries-old weeping willow, the centrepiece of the Hortustuin’s natural heritage. On Grote Kruisstraat, the architect gradually aligns with the scale of the existing modernist building through two volumes of two and four storeys respectively, all connected to the neighbouring building by a fully glazed bay housing the stairwell. The formal language, characteristic of Vandenhove’s work, combines red brick, an architectural concrete cornice and a vaulted zinc roof. It is enhanced by an installation by Jean-Pierre Pincemin featuring plant motifs created using the sandblasting technique on glass.

• Description of the collection

  Plans, specifications, correspondence, photographic records…

• Volumetry 13 boites d’archives (1,56 m)
• Bibliography

  BEKAERT, Geert, VERSCHAFFEL, Bart, Charles Vandenhove Art & architecture, Tournai, La Renaissance du livre, 1998, p. 310.

• AUTHOR AND DATE OF THE ENTRY Sébastien Charlier, 2023