Royal stables

* Koninginnelaan no. 74-78. Former Royal Stables designed by Norwegian architect I.A. Knudsen from 1903, also known as the "Norwegian stables"; in use as a school since 1928, and as a Sports Centre since 1959. Protected as a monument by Royal Decree of 22/09/1981. Original location within the old city center between Van Iseghemlaan and Langestraat, near the "Old Royal Palace" (cf. Langestraat no. 69). Construction of the Royal Chalet on the border with Mariakerke in 1873-1874, leading to the relocation of stables to the vicinity of the new royal residence, temporarily at the newly constructed Wellingtonstraat. In 1877, English architect W.J. Green, also designer of the Royal Chalet, drafted plans for new stables. The project was not executed, presumably due to Leopold II's decision to have the queen's pavilion built alongside his own by another architect. New plans for stable and carriage houses on Koninginnelaan were drafted by French architects A. Marcel, Coulomb, and Chauvet in 1902, which also went unexecuted. The final realization was designed by Norwegian architect I.A. Knudsen, designer of the Norway pavilion at the 1900 World Exposition in Paris, and also of the now-demolished wooden chalet in the Royal Domain at Raversijde. Completed in 1904, it was never used as a stable. In 1929, the urban technical school moved in and in 1959 it was converted into an urban sports center. Partly built-in rectangular corner complex at Kaïrostraat. U-shaped layout with stable wing to the northeast and coach houses around a courtyard with a gate building between fences at the street side. Prominent wooden construction with overhanging slate gable roofs. Structure with wooden columns, open rafters, cladding, roof riders, and gates under a gable with wind vane somewhat refers to the Norwegian "stavkirke." Careful woodworking, both inside and outside, in the so-called "Dragenstilen," a Scandinavian art-nouveau interpretation of the Viking style cf. the recurring knot and brace motifs, dragon-shaped beam ends. Adaptations due to the new function cf. among others, ceilings brought in here and there and extensions. DEPARTMENT ROHM WEST FLANDERS, Cell Monuments and Landscapes, Archive nos. DW000408, W/00466, and W/00973. LOMBAERDE P., Leopold II. King-builder, Ghent, 1995, p. 92-93.

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