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August 10, 2005
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Images Courtesy Steven Holl
Architects |
Art, architecture, and gambling will
soon come together on the Belgian Riviera to create one of
Europe's new tourist hotspots. In July, New York-based Steven
Holl Architects won a competition to restore and expand the
Albert Place Casino in Knokke-Heist, a resort town on the
North Sea. A René Magritte mural, The Ship Which Tells
the Story to the Mermaid, provided the inspiration for the
tripartite design, centering on a 20-story, 354-foot sail-like
hotel and apartment tower. The existing early-Modernist casino,
built in 1930 by famed Belgian architect Leon Stynen, will
have its facade restored with a new curtain wall, and its
interior modernized to create a grand entrance to the hotel.
A convention center resembling a mermaid's tail will extend
the complex inland.
The overall design will be a mixture of functions and architectures.
Shops, restaurants, galleries, and pools will join an auditorium,
a spa, and a public observation deck as parts of the 150 million
euro ($185 million) project. With its glass curtain wall,
the thin hotel and casino tower will supply all rooms with
views of the sea. The convention center will have a glass
exterior covered by a perforated-metal wall. The hexagonal,
laser-cut holes in its walls will vary in sizes to create
interesting shadow effects inside the building. "This
is a way to make a new international destination through a
great work of architecture," says Chris McVoy, the project's
partner-in-charge. "It's not your typical tall resort
building." While the seaside resort tower, a rarity for
northern Europe, will soar above Knokke-Heist, the complex
will interact with the city through an adjacent pedestrian
space called Casino Square. The city and developers will shortly
put the resort out to bid, and construction will begin soon
after.
Gregory Hafkin
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