Provincial Technical Schools

The Provincial Technical Schools Boom were founded in 1926-1930 to a design by architects Camille Bal and Ernest Lamot as an institute for technical education, to train craftsmen for the growing industry in the Rupel region. The school was part of the urban design concept for the 'Boomsche Beekbosschen Tuinwijk' of which the municipal park was also an integral part. The complex, with separate buildings for theory and practice, was executed in art deco with highly verticalizing elements. The Provincial Technical Schools (PTS) in Boom were built between 1926 and 1930. The municipal park, which was built in the same period (1928-1929), was created within the same urban design concept and was already protected as a landscape by Royal Decree on 8 March 1940. The establishment of the provincial industrial school was part of the post-war industrial development of the Rupel region. The economic landscape of this region was characterized by a cluster of small and medium-sized enterprises, directly or indirectly linked to the brick industry, traditionally located in this region. In addition, other companies were attracted that benefited from the large supply of labor available in the calmer seasons of brick production. For the entire industrial complex there was a sharply increasing demand for skilled labour, which existing education could no longer meet. In order to meet the needs of industry and education in this region, the provincial government proposed to set up an industrial school. In August 1924 it was decided that Boom offered the most favorable location for this. The establishment of the PTS should also be seen in the light of the development of a new residential area, north of the center of Boom. Under the impulse of engineer Benjamin Haesaerts, the intermunicipal association 'Boomsche Beekbosschen Tuinwijk' (BBT) was founded in 1925 by the province of Antwerp and the municipalities of Boom, Niel and Reet. This association set itself, among other things, the goal of creating a new 'healthy' neighborhood in Boom, equipped with a municipal park. A second assignment was to build a provincial industrial school for the Rupel region. For the construction of this district, Boom and the Province of the noble family Cardon de Lichtbuer purchased almost 29 hectares of forest and adjacent meadows in 1925. About 18 hectares of meadow and marshland were also expropriated. Construction of the school began in 1926. Camille Bal (1888-1955), at that time appointed by the municipality as assistant architect, and architect Ernest Lamot were called upon for the design. To date, it is unclear who exactly had what part in the construction of the building. A stylistic comparison with other of Bal's realizations suggests that the architectural-formal concept was his own. This statement is supported by the fact that the garden district 'Park', north of the school, was also designed by Bal. The specifications for the construction of the workhouses were booked on September 10, 1926. The foundations of the school building date from 1927. In 1928, the caretaker's house, refectory and gymnasium were erected and the following year the school building was completed. The workshops were furnished, the interior of the school was tackled in 1931-1932. Building typologically, the school complex is inspired by contemporary realizations for industrial education in the Netherlands and Wallonia. Technical education was still relatively new in Flanders at that time. The plan concept provided for individual building components, each adapted to their respective function, was innovative for that period. This division of functions remained in use until now. Architecturally clearly a product of its time, inspired by the Amsterdam School and close to art deco, the PTS Boom are a representative, neatly preserved and particularly beautiful example of architecture from the interwar period. That the building was also appreciated in the 1930s is proven by a number of publications in architecture magazines such as K.M.B.A. and Bâtir). The fact that the designer has sought inspiration from our northern neighbors is noticeable in the preserved original windows (side Beukenlaan) that are opened to the outside. In the 1950s, a renovation and remodeling campaign was carried out of the north wing. To the east, two bays were added to a design by provincial architect Leon Van Santvoort (1909-1995). The staircase was also adapted This extension is in line with the original buildings in terms of style and use of materials. At the end of the 1950s, the school was again expanded with new workshops, following on from the original sheds. The existing gymnastics halls date from 1977. The latest construction campaign concerns the construction of the CDO (Centre for Day Education), north of the gyms. The new school wings from the 1950s, with the exception of the extension adjacent to the north wing, fall outside the demarcation of protection. Since 2001, a restoration file has been running to a design by architectural firm Erfgoed en Visie, with restorations in various phases. Description The oldest parts of the Provincial Technical Schools (PTS) form a building complex of three contiguous wings, adjacent to the August Sniederstraat (north), the Beukenlaan (west) and the Albrecht Rodenbachstraat (south) and a detached wing under a shed roof (east). The whole is marked by a narrow, sloping entrance staircase with tower-like corner buildings on Beukenlaan and a hexagonal water tower on the corner of Beukenlaan and August Sniedersstraat. The typology of the various building sections betrays the original purpose, in which a clear distinction can be made between the rather traditional school buildings on the west side, intended for theory lessons on the one hand, and the favorably oriented workshops under shed roofs in which practice was taught on the other. The monumentally conceived brick building shows art deco allure and is characterized by balanced volumes, a strongly verticalizing façade ordinance (lisenes, buttresses and window registers), higher ascending wall sections and decoratively used imitation white stone façade elements. The contrasting use of materials (dark red clinging stone and imitation white stone), the sleek geometric façade detailing and the staggered wall sections give the whole a strong expressive character. Striking is the absence of pure façade decoration, or of an aestheticization of functional building elements, such as gargoyles, parapets, pedestals and crowns. The emphatic use and skillful processing of brick refer to the regional economy. The elongated rectangular wall openings were originally filled in with steel windows and doors. Many were replaced by aluminium in 1981, while retaining the original window layout. Only in the west wing are older steel windows preserved along the street side, which open outwards. Under each window of the classrooms is fitted a ventilation grid, which is part of the original heating system. School wings The entire south and west wings of the building are basement. This included the refectory, the workshops for the maintenance staff, changing rooms and workshops for masons and plasterers. The stairs retained their original tiling. Behind the entrance staircase is the monumental staircase under a skylight. The floor is covered by square red tiles of baked earth. The wall faience consist of green-clouded tiles, accentuated by black tile formations. The ceiling of the hall is profiled stair-shaped along the walls and around the stairwell. The double doors that give access to the adjacent corridors and rooms are original, but the color scheme at the time of protection is not original. On the first floor, the staircase is finished in the same way. The existing skylight is no longer the original and dates from 1977. The classrooms adjacent to the stairwell were mainly used for the management of the school and are characterized by the original herringbone-shaped parquet. The south wing, intended for the staff, was thoroughly renovated. The west and north wings with classrooms along a long connecting corridor are quite neatly preserved. Later renovations can be read from the wall and floor tiling of the hallway. The typical stages with parquet in herringbone pattern at the front of the classrooms have been preserved. The floor follows the same floor plan as on the ground floor. Here, the classrooms were deduplicated in a recent phase. The former water tower has been partially filled in with a high-voltage cabin since around 1981. For this, part of the original staircase had to be removed. The former banquet hall was completely redesigned as an auditorium in 1988. This new decoration left the original structure untouched. The original stage for theatre performances and the herringbone-shaped parquet were preserved. The rooms on the floors of the entrance were redesigned. Workhouses The workhouses from 1926 were originally a completely open construction (one continuous space), which was later divided by means of brick walls, which are clearly distinguishable from the initial construction. In 2004 there is a separate room with workshop under each sawtooth. In some of these rooms, a duplex was also installed that serves as a dressing room or has been set up for another function. The steel support structure, preserved untouched, is constructed of profiles in crushed steel. The riveting was carried out by means of mechanical riveting machines. Where there was insufficient space to use the riveting machine, a hammer was used. However, a large part of the joints of the structure are carried out with bolts. Schoolyard and caretaker's house Old photographs testify to the original layout and construction of the schoolyard, which spatially and formally matched the surrounding architecture. South of the workhouses, on Albrecht Rodenbachstraat, the caretaker's house closes off the old school site. This house has two bays and two storeys under a flat roof and is built in brick on a hard stone plinth. The protruding volume of the right bay is openwork with rectangular windows. The rectangular front door, accessible via a straight staircase of three steps, is covered by an awning. In the second floor, above the door, there is a small rectangular window. Front garden The oldest part of the school complex is surrounded by a geometrically landscaped (front) garden with low fence. Beds with low plantings are alternated with trees. The closure consists of a steel tight geometric structure between hard stone pillars. At the level of the façade protrusions, hard stone benches are provided in the closure. Hard stone flower boxes along the facades are part of the garden concept. The original ports have been removed, but have been documented based on the original plans. Provincial Archives Antwerp, Provincial Technical Schools Boom 6. Works: numbers 1-44, 47, 49, 55-57, 62, 65, 68-69, 72, 75, 78-79, 86-87, 90, 92-93, 95-96, 98-99, 102, 104-109, 111, 113, 117-118. Department of Works and Infrastructure Province of Antwerp, Provincial Technical Schools Boom. Architecture archive Province of Antwerp, photo material and documentation. Museum of Photography, Province of Antwerp, photographic material. Inspection reports Monumentenwacht Antwerpen vzw, 1996 and 2001. WYLLEMAN L. 1985: Building through the Ages. Inventory of cultural property in Belgium. Architecture. Part 10n2. Province of Antwerp, District of Antwerp, Ghent, 126-129. S.N. 1932: Provincial Technical School of Boom, KMBA. Monthly magazine. Organ of the Royal Society of Architects of Antwerp 3.1 (January), 169-177. VAN EVERBROECK L. 1936: L'Ecole Technique Provinciale de Boom, Bâtir 45 (August), 817-818.

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