Architecture studios Carmody Groarke, Atama and Re-st have completed the revamp of Design Museum Gent in Belgium, adding a geometric volume wrapped in waste-based white bricks.

Set to reopen to the public in Ghent this weekend, the timber-framed wing introduces educational and event spaces to the museum, along with additional exhibition space.

The team, which includes London-based Carmody Groarke and local studios Atama and Re-st, has also restored the museum's three historic wings and renovated an existing courtyard.

The revamp of Design Museum Gent has been completed

Described by the team as the "final piece of the museum site", the extension was designed to unite the museum's collection of previously disjointed spaces, "completing the visitor loop".

It slots behind a portion of the museum's historic facade and, alongside one of the old wings, frames the existing courtyard updated by the studios.

The 2,200-square-metre expansion makes the building Belgium's largest design museum, spanning a total of 8,600 square metres including 3,700 square metres of exhibition space.

It has been expanded with a white-brick extension

"Organisationally, we've got this idea of an ensemble of four buildings," Carmody Groarke co-founder Kevin Carmody told Dezeen during a tour of the building today.

"The new building makes sense of three older buildings by connecting them physically in terms of accessibility, but also making the ensemble orient itself around this beautiful courtyard."

For the extension's design, the studios nodded to Ghent's traditional gabled houses, resulting in its sloping profile and use of limestone bricks.

An existing courtyard has been renovated as part of the project. Photo by Filip Dujardin

These bricks, which borrow their dimensions from the neighbouring Hotel de Coninck, were produced using local construction waste before undergoing a low-energy lime-curing process.

Designed with circular economy specialist Local Works Studio and materials manufacturer BC Materials, they are claimed to carry just one-third of the embodied carbon of a typical Belgian clay brick.

Externally, this brick facade is punctuated by a series of boxy glazed openings, including at ground level where a large entrance features a 3D-printed aluminium door created by Antwerp studio Unfold.

Read: Municipal waste used to form low-carbon brick for Design Museum Gent extension

The six-storey extension opens up to a reception and shop at ground level, where steps framed by an oversized earth column made using on-site construction waste lead up to the courtyard.

The building's programme has been divided into distinct zones, rising from ground-floor exhibition spaces and a lecture hall to education spaces across its middle floors.

An event space crowns the building, complete with expansive windows overlooking the city. Meanwhile, an art-handling area is at basement level.

The bricks were produced using local construction waste

"[The rooms] respond to the very unusual proportions of the site and connect views specifically to each of the functions," Carmody said. "Each floor is unique in their experience."

Throughout the extension, the wing's timber structure has been left exposed and paired with white walls and wooden floors.

Visitors can also see bio-based design details by various Belgium-based creatives, including furniture by Casimir and Bram Vanderbeke & Wendy Andreu, and a pocket garden by Bureau Bas Smets.

The extension adds new exhibition areas. Photo by Filip Dujardin

The revitalisation of the museum's historic wings involved the division of its large exhibition space into a series of smaller areas. The museum will reopen to the public on 3 October with a new art collection and opening exhibition.

Other recently completed museums featured on Dezeen include the Mind Museum in Denmark, held within a former psychiatric hospital, and a trio of "wonderfully expressive" buildings designed by Peter Zumthor for the Foundation Beyeler museum in Switzerland.

The photography is by Michiel De Cleene unless otherwise stated.

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