Technicum T4 will become the new home base for art and architecture students
Technicum T4 will become the new home base for art and architecture studentsBuilding T4, located between Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat and the Muinkschelde, will undergo a thorough renovation. From 2029 it will become the home base for art and architecture students, and the impressive machine hall will regularly be open to visitors.
Technicum T4 will become the new home base for art and architecture students
Building T4, located between Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat and the Muinkschelde, will undergo a thorough renovation. From 2029 it will become the home base for art and architecture students, and the impressive machine hall will regularly be open to visitors.
After the renovation of buildings T1 and T2, it is now T4’s turn for major maintenance and a future-oriented repurposing. The imposing building with its characteristic machine hall will receive a new sustainable, accessible and vibrant use — within walking distance of De Vooruit and De Krook.
Heritage with a future
Building T4 formerly served as a laboratory for mechanical engineering, fuel applications, textile research, and aircraft and automobile construction.
It is part of the Technicum complex, built in the late 1930s and designed by professors Jean-Norbert Clocquet and Gustave Magnel.
The building is listed as heritage because of its exceptional construction method: a steel skeleton structure with custom-welded beams, using the most modern techniques of the time. Other elements that define its unique character will remain visible and preserved:
the sawtooth roofs in the machine hall
the slender steel window frames
glazed tiles
refined details in the office section
Who designed the new concept?
The design approach is based on thorough maintenance and reactivation for the coming 80 years. The adjacent, vacant Aerodynamics Tower will be integrated as a vertical circulation shaft. Between the office section of T4 and the tower, a small new volume will be added to make the whole functional and future-proof.
The design resulted from the Open Call under the leadership of the Flemish Government Architect. From five proposals, the jury in 2022 selected the team of Havana architectuur, Karuur architecten, S.E.A. and Wim Cuyvers, later expanded with Gevelinzicht and BM Engineering.
Demonstrator project for sustainability
T4 aims to grow into an exemplary project in sustainable heritage:
Focus on low operational emissions by reducing energy consumption.
Attention to low material-related emissions through conscious material choices and maximum preservation of existing building parts.
The design respects the identity of the building and keeps the machine hall and other characteristic spaces intact and flexibly usable for the future.
Generating energy beneath the Student square (Studentenplein)
In early 2025, a BEO field (borehole energy storage) was installed under the Student square in Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat via underground drilling.
This system stores heat and cold in the ground, allowing nearby buildings — such as building T4 — to be heated and cooled without fossil fuels.
Schedule
Environmental permit issued on 11 September 2025: fully received and declared admissible by the City of Ghent.
Start of works in 2027: after the relocation of the current laboratories to the science park in Zwijnaarde (Tech Lane Ghent Science Park – Campus Ardoyen).
Commissioning in 2029 by:
Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (Faculty of Engineering and Architecture)
Department of Art, Music and Theatre Studies (Faculty of Arts and Philosophy)
More about Campus Ufo: building projects
Campus Ufo will also receive a new Student Centre and Student square; the Rectorate and the car park will also be extensively renovated.
