Warande Cultural Centre

The Warande Cultural Centre in Turnhout has doubled in size. The old Warande building is still there, but it now has a multi-purpose theatre space at its disposal. The old complex, which opened in 1972, bears the signature of Paul Schellekens and is a potent example of Brutalism: a massive brick building with receding and projecting volumes, brown-tinted glass and concrete window surrounds. In contrast, the new Warande building is a compact vertical glass volume. The competition brief stipulated that the new theatre should be omni-directional and that the technical space should extend over the entire space. That demand resulted in a thirteen-metre-high hall that simultaneously functions as fly tower. Macken & Macken regard the façades of their buildings as a logical extension of the interior. So too the curtain wall of the new Warande; the partly painted glass modulates light and provides acoustic insulation while the red indicates the fire doors.