The architectural companies TRANS architectuur | stedenbouw, RE-ST architectenvennootschap, and Carmody Groarke will design an extension to the Design Museum in Gent, Belgium.
This extension will be called DING, which stands for Design in Ghent and will serve as a link between the existing three galleries of the museum – a town mansion that dates back to the 18th-century, a wing that was built towards the end of the 20th century, and a third building called Leten House that dates all the way back to the 16th century. The entrance to DING will lie somewhere between the mansion and Leten House.
The extension to the Design Museum will act as a link between all the existing buildings of the museum. Apart from creating brand new exhibition areas, the extension will also provide area for public activity, engagement, and debate.
The new extension is also meant to resolve current problems the museum faces with logistics and accessibility.
According to the museum, the extension to the Design Museum will be the link between the current exhibition spaces and the rest of the city. Not only this, DING will be a free-for-all meeting space where everybody is welcome to come and engage in debate and conversation.
Ghent’s independent urban development firm called Sogent looked for a team to design the extension. This selection of designers was made based on the biannual Open Call procedure introduced by the Flemish Government Architect.
Towards the latter half of 2018, 96 separate design teams were analysed and five winning teams were asked to submit their designs.
The jury selected a submission that had been made as a joint partnership between three separate architectural firms – RE-ST architectenvennootschap from the city of Antwerp in Belgium , Carmody Groarke from London, and TRANS architectuur | stedenbouw from Ghent, Belgium.
These firms were selected because their submission highlighted great solutions for each part of the new project. DING is supposed to represent a smooth transition between the building and the street, without any barriers.
DING will make the museum a ‘smart’ museum, in every aspect, by offering accessibility in terms of logistics, flexibility in terms of space usage, and an overall modern, digital experience. The extension to the Design Museum is also meant to improve circulation among each of the three current museum buildings.
Additionally, the new extension will be designed to have its own entrance so that it can even be an entity separate from the museum.
This entrance will be designed to lead into a “community room,” which according to the three firms will hopefully become a meeting point for locals, encouraging public debate and discussion.
According to the director of Carmody Groarke, Andy Groarke:
“Museums are facing increasing challengers to connect visitors to their collections. We were therefore very inspired by Design Museum Gent’s ambition to create a new building that makes a visit to their museum relevant, inviting and accessible to all.”
As part this extension, spaces that are not being used at their full capacity in the existing buildings will also be renovated and made more usable.
Construction of the extension to the Design Museum is likely to begin at the beginning of 2021 and is expected to be completed by 2023.
