MG Tower, the tallest office tower in Flanders, and the tallest building in Belgium outside Brussels, constitutes the gateway to new ‘Loop’ development in Ghent.

‘The Loop’ is a completely new city district that offers a whole range of opportunities for working, living and leisure in a high-quality, dynamic and stimulating environment with plenty of room for residential accommodation and nature.

Jaspers-Eyers Architects designed the building deliberately as a landmark with a strong identifiable image.

The main volume – which is based on an efficient square floor plan - contains the offices and training facilities for KBC bank. This beam shaped central part of the tower is sliced into two parts which have been slightly shifted.

The right side of the tower is stretched and ends in slim volume which contains VIP reception area’s on the 25th floor and plant rooms above. The open top of the building contains the cooling tower and the facade cleaning equipment.

The left side volume is topped by a large accessible roof terrace on the 25th floor, the highest rooftop terrace in the country, adjacent to the VIP reception area, and ends in a cantilever at the side of the motorway. The volume which contains the 200-seat auditorium in the base of the building forms a countermovement, as a strong base for the suspended left hand volume.

The result is a single shape, which clearly refers to the program of the bank, with its multiple semi-public functions in the base and the more private smaller program at the top. At the same time the building is firmly anchored in its immediate surrounding environment with distinct facades in all directions.

Jaspers-Eyers Architects have taken a lot of attention to stress the timelessness and purity of the building volume through careful detailing of the stonework and in the subtle integration of all technical equipment in the building. All air intakes and exhausts have been carefully hidden in lowered courtyards and underneath the cantilever of the building.

The tower stands on a base which has been completely covered by a large roof garden, under which the parking is situated. The main entrance has been raised one floor in order to stand above the traffic infrastructure on the level of the motorway flyover. A large part of the building users will come to work using public transport. For this reason a bridge has been constructed over the motorway exit towards a bus-and tram-stop in ‘The Loop’.

The 21,400 m² MG Tower provides room for 1,200 people and includes a 430-car and 150-bike underground garage.

Source: Buildings & Data SA