Spanish architecture firm Carlos Arroyo Arquitectos has taken up a vacant Coca-Cola factory in Bruges, Belgium and has given it a new look and a new job as a sustainable city hall. The city hall which is designed to serve as a centralized administration center for the countryside’s municipalities is made using recycled materials and comes with renewable energy generation systems that reduce the building’s carbon footprint.
The Oostkamp facility is made using lightweight and eco friendly materials with thin gypsum and fiber shells making up the luminous bubble ceiling. The facility also comes with felt made using recycled bottles that gifts the facility with natural warmth and dampens noise. The sustainable development also incorporates a “thermal onion” heating system that uses concrete slabs as thermal mass to heat the interior space without consuming any electricity.
The public open spaces in the center are illuminated with a controlled weather system making use of energy efficient LED light bulbs. Moreover, the facility captures rainwater to create an engaging water show. To add to its eco friendly credentials, the city hall also features the use of solar panels and wind turbines to generate a healthy amount of renewable electricity.