aNNo is a team of passionate architects, restoration experts, and interior designers. What binds us is our passion for built heritage. Our mission is to prepare existing buildings - whether protected or remarkable - for the future. aNNo sets itself apart from other restoration firms by focusing on design research. Restoration of the material is not an end in itself but a means to give the building a new place in the social and societal context. Architectural design emerges from the analysis of the existing. aNNo takes a constructive yet critical attitude towards heritage value. We seek the memory of the place. Heritage not so much as a label but as quality; heritage inspires. Where necessary, new additions can complement the design. Weiterbauen. In doing so, we design based on the principle of 'design by reference'.
Context
Meer is a small rural village of about 3000 inhabitants, situated at the border of Belgium and the Netherlands. This historic convent site is located in the village centre, only 100 meters far from the historic parish church.
The origins of the cloister site are situated In the late 19 century, during the Belgian School Struggles. At the time a Catholic elementary school was founded in the village. Over the years, buildings were systematically added: a monastery in 1900, a household school in 1908 and a parish hall in 1927. Further, other supportive buildings and sheds. In 2003 the site was listed as national monument and landscape, including the imposing beech avenue and hedged lawns.
The site was a well-known landmark in the area but had been empty for several years until some enthusiastic villagers joined forces. Non-profit organization Klooster Meer was determined to breathe new life into the site at all costs. It had to once again become the hub of the village. Together with a social housing corporation called Noorderkempen, they secured the leasehold and coordinated the repurposing.
They brought us on board for the restoration and repurposing of the valuable monuments.
A double jeopardy
Peculiar about the village is the fact is has no real public spaces like a market or a central square. The public space in this village used to be an widened road navigating between the old farm building. After the second world war car traffic took over this public space and the village lost its public market road. The convent site had always been significant to the villagers. People went to school in their own village, the parish hall served as a gathering place, and the outdoor space doubled as a park on weekends.
When the village school and parish hall closed its doors in 2005. The village's last semi-public space was under threat. The convent was on the market. Private investors were invited to bid on the property. The site was under threat of privatisation.
Citizens power
Following the initiative of only nine villagers a broad collective was forged, in which they involved local entrepreneurs, the regional social housing authorities, community welfare services, the monuments site administration and an interdisciplinary design team of heritage architects (aNNo), urban planners (A2D) and landscape architects (D+A). The collective of villagers (organised in the non-profit organization Convent Meer) and the social housing authorities (Bouwmaatschappij De Noorderkempen) managed to acquire the site in 2005.
Project aims
aNNo collaborated with a local collective of residents to investigate whether we could somehow ensure public use of the site. Our concise ambition included first that the historic buildings must be given a public or semi-public function that would have an added value for the inhabitants of Meer and the region: a meeting place for seniors, employment, meeting space for associations, function as an auditorium, residential tourism, etc.
Second, to realize a public space for the village and third to strengthen the social cosmos by adding social housing on the site to generate a lively village quarter. aNNo proposed approaching the site through the lens of social encounters and transforming the heart of the site into the village's first public square in its history. It entailed the removal of some listed structures as shown in the early sketches.
We arranged public functions around the square, and strongly advocated for the heritage authorities to complement the historic buildings with new social housing units within the perimeters of the historic area, in order to strengthen the site as a central space for the villagers.
To reinforce the historic core and the existing landscape structure as much as possible, the new houses seek out the site's edges, creating a serene backdrop for the remaining historic buildings and the park.
(c)Olmo Peeters
Outcomes
Qualities The monastery site regained its ancient vocation as a place for collective living and meeting. From the initial dream by the villagers in 2005 to its completion in 2022, it took more than 15 years to realize this project. As it stands the project now consists of 17 newly built houses in rental or long lease formula, a social service center, a local bedbreakfast, an office function and mixed use of the former housekeeping school.
Throughout the project the non-profit organization Convent Meer, together with Bouwmaatschappij De Noorderkempen, kept in close contact with the village through the organisation of village council meetings in which the plans, stages, difficulties and challenges were communicated and discussed. Further, during the period several cultural events and social activities were organised on site (village markets, festivities, gatherings, music festival…) already cementing its place as the heart of the village.
Of course it is a story about repairing old buildings and finding appropriate functions. It’s a story about adaptive reuse of monuments. Or combining old and new architecture. And it’s about urban densification. Or even ensuring the social tissue of our rural villages.
Looking back on the project and process, we argue the project induces, as such, a systemic societal change based upon the deep history of the village. We realize a cultural scenographic narrative in close cooperation with the villagers.
In this case ‘preservation’ is not about ‘preservation’. Combing historic buildings and new architecture. Public functions and social housing.
The site has been completed since April of 2022.