Brusk, Bruges’ newest cultural building, designed by Belgian studios Robbrecht en Daem architecten and Olivier Salens architecten, has been seven years in the making. 'We really like that it’s not an isolated building in a park, but has that urban fabric of connection. It’s a place where you feel the city’s paths, its culture, its alleyways,' says Olivier Salens, and Paul Robbrecht agrees.
Discover the Brusk exhibition hall in Bruges
Located in the heart of the medieval northern Belgian city, a Unesco world heritage site, the 9,500 sq m new ‘exhibition hall’ occupies the site of a former school, allowing access to residents and visitors to this part of the city for the first time. It is composed of a glazed concrete building with an expansive sloping roof clad in textured dark green glass tiles and a long red brick service annexe with a sawtooth outline. The museum’s central feature is a generous and airy public passageway, dubbed the Scala Grande, which has been filled with a captivating monumental fresco by French artist Laure Prouvost. It can be visited for free and beyond museum opening hours.
Off this central space, visitors can find the ticketing hall, shop, educational spaces, an auditorium and a large, airy café that spills out onto an outdoor garden. 'We consciously decided to lift the exhibition spaces to the first floor to give the entire ground floor back to the city,' says Salens. Two sculptural staircases lead to the exhibition halls and cleverly allow for closer interaction with the Prouvost piece, which you soon realise is not just painted on the walls but also features textured and bas-relief elements made of mirror, bronze and glass.
Once inside the two exhibition halls, which measure 40x40m and 40x20m respectively, the mastery of what the architects have achieved becomes even more apparent. Both spaces are entirely column-free and soar up to 13.75m, despite the brief asking only for '5.5 m high spaces'. And both spaces feature 8m-high, tilted north-facing windows reminiscent of classic artists’ studios, which bathe the space in that prized northern light creatives are so keen to work in.
It is not too harsh, explains Robbrecht, because it comes in at an angle and has been diffused with southern light thanks to small apertures in the sloping roof on the opposite side. 'That mix of northern with a bit of southern light, which is not as cold, is important,' he says. Though the museum opened with two ‘dark’ shows that necessitated all the glazing be covered, the idea is that these two soaring cathedral-like spaces will also host large-scale sculptural installations or more experimental art or performances that are not necessarily display-based. One exhibition could also take place in both halls at once as they are connected by a wide walkway.
Given Brusk’s contemporary design, size and green glass roof, and the fact that it is surrounded by significant historic, cultural and residential buildings on all sides (including a home for over-65s), it is no surprise that the architects 'were initially worried that one of our neighbours might object to our planning application and the project could be stalled'. Luckily, this didn’t happen, in part because the architects 'went to huge efforts to talk with neighbours in the preliminary phase', says Salens.
This was also because Brusk is attuned to its surroundings, preserving historic sight lines and the Bruges skyline and lining up the central Scala Grande space with the iconic 13th-century Belfry (bell tower) to the north-west. Brusk may be a large contemporary building, but you walk up to it through a series of alleys, gardens and courtyards, and when you first come across it, it is almost an unexpected discovery.
The same approach of dialoguing with its neighbours, be they human, architectural or urban, and of bringing together old and new, is evident in the fact that two of the historic school buildings were renovated instead of being demolished as per the initial plan. A small one right next to the museum’s northern entrance has been turned into a very special ‘store room’ for local residents to put their bikes. A much larger and handsome 1930s brick building north of Brusk has also been kept. 'It was too good to demolish, so we said let’s keep it and think of a function for it,' says Robbrecht.
It has been restored and a new public square created outside and now houses Bron, the gleaming 1,000 sq m scientific research centre for Musea Brugge, the municipal umbrella organisation that manages the city’s art collection and 13 of its most historic buildings and prestigious art museums, including Brusk, centralising work that had previously been carried out on different sites across the city. ‘But also ensuring that the site isn’t just for visitors or people using the café,' says Salens, 'but that it is also a place of work.’
In a bid to further enhance operations and connectivity Bron has been joined to Brusk’s service building, which houses restoration workshops, storage spaces and offices, via a covered walkway. The two exhibition halls in Brusk are also connected to the service building via overhead walkways, facilitating the restoration and transportation of art and, importantly, allowing this nascent museum complex to remain car-free.
To the north-west, Brusk will eventually be connected at ground-floor level with the neighbouring Groeningemuseum (home to six centuries of Belgian art) and share ticket and locker facilities once the latter is renovated and reopens in 2031. 'We have already created a connection with Groeninge for artworks to come in from the service building and be transported via the northern walkway directly into the museum,' explains Salens, adding that this wasn’t part of the original brief.
Altogether these buildings and walkways are creating what will eventually become a veritable Museum Quarter, replete with a large park for art and leisure to the south of Brusk that will allow access into the building from that southern side. Designed by Swiss landscape architect Georges Descombes, the park will also offer residents and visitors restored access to centuries-old trees and a historic canal. Unlike many museum quarters, however, the beauty of this one is that it’s right in the heart of the historic city.