City Hall of Ostend

Vindictivelaan nr. 1. City Hall. Before World War II located at Wapenplein, destroyed and replaced in the 1950s by the Festival and Cultural Palace. New city hall location in function of the post-war geographical city center, namely the filled-in third commercial dock at the intersection of two axes, respectively the Vindictivelaan - Alfons Pieterslaan running from east to west and the new Leopold II-laan running from south to north towards Casino-Kursaal and the seawall. The immediate surroundings further consist of Mercatordok to the east and courthouse (Canada Square) to the north. Functional building designed by architect V. Bourgeois (Brussels) in collaboration with Ostend architect A. Daniels from 1954; first stone laid in 1956; fully operational in 1961. Comprises three specific, rectangular wings with a concrete skeleton under a flat roof: a representative wing with a wide horizontal volume axially aligned with the Mercatordok, a parallel northern higher office wing with an underground garage on Stockholm Street, and a perpendicular connecting block. To the northeast, a park with bronze sculpture "The Wind" by E. Bulcke; parking lot to the south. State wing with three building floors and fifteen bays. Classic monumental appearance due to sober balanced design in combination with "durable" materials: blue limestone from Visé for the pedestal-forming ground floor with horizontal windows and central portal under a prominent canopy, Portland stone as formwork of the above structure rhythmically verticalized by rectangular windows in limestone frames, bronze for window and door work. The whole outlined by a surrounding, openwork balustrade with flagpoles in the middle. Southeast facade: centrally semicircular projecting stairwell with continuous vertical glazing repeating itself left and right in the upper structure; characteristic large muntins. Short side facades, closed to the southwest and featuring a large bas-relief with the city coat of arms by sculptor A. Michiels; to the northeast, right opened up by means of stacked horizontal portal and window registers of the stairwell, left closed and framed for clock and first stone "THE OLD TOWN HALL LOCATED ALONG WAPENPLEIN WAS DESTROYED ON THE NIGHT OF 27-28 MAY 1940 DUE TO WAR EVENTS. HERE ON 8 SEPTEMBER 1956, THE FIRST STONE WAS LAID FOR THIS NEW TOWN HALL BY MR. MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ADOLF VAN GLABBEKE, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF OSTEND, IN THE PRESENCE OF MESSRS. EMIEL VROOME, JAN PIERS, MAURICE QUAGHEBEUR, KAMIEL DEHOUCK, AND FRANS VAN CAILLIE, ALDERMEN. MICHEL SURMONT, CITY SECRETARY. ARCHITECT: MR. VICTOR BOURGEOIS ASSISTED BY MR. ARCHITECT ANDRÉ DANIELS. CONTRACTOR: GENERAL CONTRACTING WIDOW JEROME VAN COILLIE." Interior. Ground floor: monumental, marble-floored honor hall leading to a wide, illuminated spiral staircase; walls left and right, provided with memorial plaques for the victims of the First and Second World Wars. First floor: similar hall left and right leading to high wedding and municipal council hall; opposite, two passages to long corridor with offices of the mayor, aldermen, and college hall overlooking Mercatordok. Second floor: offices and meeting rooms above those of the first floor. Original decoration and furniture by N.V. De Coene (Kortrijk). Administrative wing: five building floors, however, a central low counter hall with zenithal lighting. Same ground floor as the state wing; however, the upper structure features typical curtain walls of concrete, steel, and glass as products of the International Style. Interior: flexible layout through movable partition walls. The intermediate wing connects both e.g. via corridor. Five building floors and five bays as an appendix to the state wing. Characteristically closed character cf. perforated upper structure: square windows identical to the module of formwork panels.

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