Koksijde Watchtower Building, Belgian Wooden Structure, Flemish Architecture Images

Hoge Blekker Watchtower, Koksijde

Province of West Flanders Architecture, Belgium design by NEXT architects

1 Jun 2018

Koksijde Watchtower Building in West Flanders

Design: NEXT architects

Location: Koksijde, province of West Flanders, Belgium

Koksijde Watchtower Building

NEXT WINS COMPETITON WITH A WOODEN WATCHTOWER ON THE BELGIAN COAST

31/05/2018 – How do you create a touristic landmark that catches people’s attention whilst fluidly merging with the surroundings? Connecting landscape and landmark formed a basis for the winning design by NEXT architects for the Hoge Blekker, a watchtower on the Belgian coast.

The competition was run by the Municipality of Koksijde, the Province of West-Vlaanderen and Westtoer to emphasise the experience of the landscape in the touristic regions. Hoge Blekker is one of the watchtowers that will be realised as part of the programme Horizon 2025.

The watchtower gets its name from the Hoge Blekker in Koksijde, the highest dune of the Belgian coast. A helix-shaped staircase leads visitors up to a platform at a height of 20 meters to experience the view of the horizon. The way up is closed by the wooden lamellae, which partially shroud the view on the landscape; on the top of the tower the view can be enjoyed in its full glory. This play between open and closed, extrovert and introvert, reinforces the experience of the landscape and of the tower itself.

The Major of Koksijde Marc Van den Bussche is proud of the design: “Paris has the Eiffel Tower and Koksijde has the Hoge Blekker. For residents and tourists, this is going to become the icon and the landmark of our city.”

This watchtower fits within a unique series of landmarks and follies by NEXT architects. Amongst these are: the award-winning Elastic Perspective in Barendrecht, nearby Rotterdam, which is entirely made out of weathering steel, and the mysterious It Goddeloas Fiersicht in the Northern Dutch Province of Friesland, made of concrete blocks. The Hoge Blekker is made almost entirely of slender wooden beams that together form a constructive unit. For the tower’s construction NEXT is collaborating with Ingenieurbüro Miebach, a German engineering office that specialises in the use of wood as a construction material.

The tensions between landscape and landmark, between integrated and autonomous, between movement and stillness, and between past and present are made visible in the Hoge Blekker watchtower. The design builds upon the history of the place, the identity and experience of the dunes.

Yesterday, the design team came together with the Major for the first time in Koksijde. The watchtower is expected to be realised in 2019.

Koksijde Wooden Watchtower – Building Information

COMPLETION: Horizon 2025
TEAM: Marijn Schenk, Bart Reuser and Michel Schreinemachers with Jorn Kooijstra, Jouke Sieswerda, Lisette Janssen and Marta Lata
CLIENT: Municipality of Koksijde, the Province of West-Vlaanderen and Westtoer
TYPE: Watchtower
LOCATION: Koksijde / BE
COLLABORATOR: Miebach Consulting
SIZE: 20 meters
MATERIAL: Wood

NEXT architects
Paul van Vlissingenstraat 2a
Amsterdam, 1096 BK
Netherlands

Koksijde Watchtower Building images / information received 310518 from NEXT architects

Location: Koksijde, Belgium, western Europe

Architecture in Belgium

Belgian Architectural Designs – chronological list

Brussels Architectural Tours

Belgian Architecture News

Moreelsebrug Utrecht by cepezed

Major recent Belgian building on e-architect:

Belgian Architects

Belgian Architecture

Recent Architecture in the Belgian Capital

Botanic Center Bloom Brussels Building Design
Design: Vincent Callebaut Architectures

image from architecture firm
Botanic Center Brussels Building

Le Toison d’Or
Design: UNStudio, Architects

photography © Hufton+Crow © Eva Bloem
Le Toison d’Or Brussels Building