To add two extensions to the Ursulines school complex in Mechelen, Label Architecture had to skilfully play with the existing density and the genealogy of the buildings. Using brick, a material typical of school architecture, the project manages to combine generosity and sobriety, and to make the most of the standardised approach of the Flemish Ministry of Education’s ‘School of Tomorrow’ programme.

Tall brick structures can be glimpsed as soon as you leave the Brusselsepoort. Through a cul-de-sac that leads to the interior of the block, between the mixed textures of the verandas and ordinary annexes of the terraced houses: red walls with sloppy joints. In the distance, church bells ring. Mechelen is a city of churches and schools. The churches rise high above the rooftops and the schools carve out large courtyards in the blocks. The Ursulines school complex is built from one of these sequences of solids and voids. From its centuries-old location, the complex has developed through an iterative process of additions and transformations to existing buildings, the latest extension to the school being part of this process. However, any addition requires careful and judicious consideration of the empty spaces that organise this small town within the town.