Office, Ghent

The brief

A spatial analysis and volume study for an office building in Ghent. The study asks what can stand in this place: how large, in what shape, and in what relation to the ring road, the water and the buildings around it. It ends at a volume, not at a building — no permit was applied for and nothing has been built.

From envelope to volume

The starting point is the maximum building envelope of the plot. Across a series of steps it is split and drawn back: first into two volumes with a lower link between them, then floor by floor, until a layered profile emerges in which every storey gains a terrace. The corners are rounded so that the volumes present themselves equally open on every side.

The base

At ground level the building stands on a colonnade, so the ground plane continues underneath the mass and the site keeps its air at street level. A garden sits between the two volumes; the terraces are planted, both roofs carry solar panels and a body of water runs alongside the building.

The imagery

Narges worked on this study as the architect. The three atmospheric visualisations were made in July 2026 from the study models, using AI-assisted image editing.