Designing a laboratory for concrete testing is not exactly a glamorous architectural commission. After all, constructing the necessary, extremely heavy concrete test floors and walls is so expensive that the architect’s client expects nothing more than a cheap ‘shoebox’ to house them. Nevertheless, Jeroen Beerten (Bel architects) and Jan Vanweert (Dhoore Vanweert architects) proved with their design for the Application Centre for Concrete and Construction (ACB2) on the Diepenbeek campus of Hasselt University that even then, architecture can make a substantial contribution in many ways.

A test hall such as ACB2 requires a great deal of space. The test hall itself measures 18 by 36 metres, with a clear height of 9 metres. This accommodates a test floor measuring 9 by 24 metres and test walls 7 metres high. Everything is designed to withstand enormous forces. Overhead cranes attached to the roof bring in sections up to 40 metres long and transport them out again to an outdoor storage area measuring a further 18 by 12 metres. Access roads are also required for such heavy transport. In addition, several hundred square metres are needed for laboratories and so on.