Frans Masereel Centrum

The extension of the Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium, creates exhibition areas and a new graphics studio. A new one-level pavilion, shaped like a cone with six protruding triangles, is linked to the existing building through a passageway looking out at the rural landscape.

The walls, made of a reinforced concrete framework and sand-lime blocks, vary in height from 2.3 to 5.9 m and support a conical wooden roof with a radius of 14.5 m. The roof is formed by around 1,000 wooden reciprocal beams of 8 cm x 23 cm and a maximum length of 6 m. The combination of inward-slanting walls and a self-supporting roof creates a free plan.