Renovation, restoration and new addition to a former Police station, Hoogstraten, 2005-

The total complex, main building, two wings, ateliers in the back, two courtyards and an impressive wall are classified as historic monument. In close cooperation with five different parties (the client, the municipal, urbanism, the fire department and the provincial institute of monument preservation) a new program of 10 mixed use units was formulated. The monument was not treated as a death object, instead it was upgraded as a local landmark and reactivated in the existing spatial, social and economical context. The building complex lies at the Vrijheid, the most important living-shopping street of the town Hoogstraten. The ground floor units are reserved for public functions as shops, offices or small ateliers and are in direct contact with the courtyard. On this level the existing ground plans, interior elements and decoration and the architectural atmosphere are kept as much as possible like they where or resorted where damaged.