Carmody Groarke completes waste-brick extension for Design Museum Gent

A 2,200-square-metre extension clad in waste-based white bricks has made Design Museum Gent the largest design museum in Belgium, ahead of its public reopening in Ghent this weekend.

Architecture studios Carmody Groarke, Atama and Re-st completed the project, which adds a geometric, timber-framed wing containing new educational and event spaces alongside additional exhibition space. The team comprises London-based Carmody Groarke and local Ghent studios Atama and Re-st. It also restored one of the museum's historic wings and renovated an existing courtyard.

The team describes the extension as the "final piece of the museum site". It was designed to unite the museum's previously disjointed spaces and complete the visitor loop. The new volume slots behind a portion of the museum's historic facade and, together with one of the old wings, frames the renovated courtyard.

The museum now spans 8,600 square metres in total, including 3,700 square metres of exhibition space.

"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. "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."

The studios based the wing's form on Ghent's traditional gabled houses, producing its sloping profile and limestone-brick facade. The bricks borrow their dimensions from the neighbouring Hotel de Coninck.

The bricks were produced using local construction waste and underwent 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.

A series of boxy glazed openings punctuates the white facade. At ground level, a large entrance features a 3D-printed aluminium door created by Antwerp studio Unfold.

The six-storey extension opens 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 programme is divided into distinct zones. Exhibition spaces and a lecture hall occupy the ground floor, with education spaces across the middle floors. An event space with expansive city-facing windows crowns the building. An art-handling area sits at basement level.

"[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."

The wing's timber structure is left exposed throughout and paired with white walls and wooden floors. Visitors will also encounter bio-based design details, including furniture and bathrooms, designed by various Belgium-based creatives.

The new wing opens to the public on 3 October with a new art collection and an opening exhibition. Its waste-brick facade and exposed timber structure position the project as a test case for low-carbon museum construction in Belgium.