Campus 44 - Field

Campus 44 unites three ground levels, on Pachecolaan, Kruidtuin and Ommegangstraat, into one continuous campus landscape. New passageways and external staircases lead visitors up and down through the building, linking gardens, streets, and entrances in a single walkable route.

Campus 44, the former modernist bank building now being converted into a university, comes with a landscape of real historical value. At its heart lies the inner garden designed by René Pechère, which is being carefully restored and opened to the public again. The garden also contains integrated artworks by leading Belgian artists, many of which had long been hidden from view. They return to their rightful place, so that the garden can once again be read as the complete work of art it was always meant to be.

Architecture and landscape work hand in hand. The interventions needed to reach the underground spaces and bring daylight into them have been designed so that they remain invisible from the garden. Pechère’s composition stays intact, and the new university functions beneath and around it without disturbing its calm.

All the roofs are designed as landscape too, complementing the inner garden. Where the courtyard is primarily a garden to look at and an atmosphere to experience, with only a few added functions, the other roofs take on a more active role as outdoor classrooms and terraces for the university. Their design starts from a contemporary interpretation of Pechère’s landscape concept, enriched with present-day themes such as biodiversity, water management and circularity. The result is a family of gardens that clearly belong together but each serve a different purpose.

A special addition is the concept of the promenade. Sculptural interior staircases connect all the gardens, so that visitors can explore them in one continuous walk. Along the way, changes in level, framed views and a three-dimensional experience of gardens and artworks keep the route varied and surprising, turning the whole campus into a single, walkable landscape.