Conversion of Clarenhof Chapel / a2o architecten
28
MAY
2014
Projects Built ProjectsSelected Projects ChapelRefurbishment HasseltReligious ArchitectureRefurbishmentBelgium
Architect:a2o architecten
Materials: Glass Concrete Brick
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Courtesy of a2o architecten
Architects: a2o architecten
Location: Hasselt, Belgium
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Courtesy of a2o architecten

Stability Engineer: Arcade
Technical Engineer: ELD engineering
From the architect. On 6 June 2004, the Colettine Poor Clares vacated the building. The former enclosed convent, situated on the Guffenslaan in Hasselt, is absent from the street scene. Its buildings are hidden behind a 4-metre-high wall. The walled premises are divided into quadrangles. The buildings were subsequently raised around courtyards. The southern part contains the enclosed convent complex. The northern part contains the chapel and the sectionof the convent that is open to visitors.
The design is characterised by a high degree of austerity. The number of building materials is limited. The building techniques show a rigorous simplicity: no concrete lintels or floors, but spans made of elliptical arches, or floors made of boards on wooden beams, decorated with motifs referring to tapestries. Everything is submerged in an atmosphere of modesty, simplicity, even a certain degree of poverty. A building method that has definedthe soul of the building complex.
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Courtesy of a2o architecten
In the search for a new use for the convent, the ‘health care’ theme was a deliberate choice. A secular extension of the ‘contemplative care’ that the sisters always represented. Today, the complex is a residential and health care centre, with service flats and public meeting areas, such as the redesigned chapel, the new ‘living room’ of the health care centre.
The entire complex is encapsulated in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. The new design is based on the