Other denominations
Sabena Aeroclub
Original use
Transportation and infrastructure/ hangar
Current use
Transportation and infrastructure/ hangar
Architects
Alfred Hardy
Engineers
Samuel Chaikes
Others
prof. Magnel Gustavus (expert in concrete), Entreprises Blaton-Aubert (building company), Atelier Hardy-Leroy (building company)
Concrete by reinforcement
Concrete is a relatively brittle material that is strong in compression but less so in tension.
To increase its overall strength, steel rods, wires, mesh or cables may be embedded in concrete before it sets. This reinforcement, often known as rebar, resists tensile forces. By forming a strong bond, the two materials are able to resist a variety of applied forces, effectively acting as a single structural element .
Construction method
In this case, the concrete can be made by mixing the components directly on site, or it may be transported from a production plant in concrete-mixer trucks.
This method has the disadvantage of leaving the concrete exposed to the elements while it is setting. Whereas, with other methods, the environmental conditions can be controlled during setting, providing greater control over the outcome, with cast-in-place concrete a series of tests and protocols are necessary to verify its final strength.
Architectural concrete
- textured walls
- wooden formwork finish
- stamped concrete
- exposed aggregate concrete, colored concrete, etc.
Structural types
The construction of cantilevers creates structures that protrude from their supports without external reinforcements, contrasted with constructions supported at both ends, where the load is distributed between them, like in the case of a beam or a lintel. Formal strategies can be used to improve the structural performance of the cantilever and reduce thicknesses.
A suspended roof refers to the case where the vertical supports do not rest on the ground but hang from a structure above. Steel cables are often used for these supports, since they are only subject to traction forces.
State of Conservation
Description
The contractor Alfred Hardy Quiévrain, who had no formal academic training, was responsible for building these two twin aircraft hangars at the Grimbergen airfield in 1947.
The self-taught nature of the designer makes the audacity and elegance of these two concrete structures even more surprising: two circular roofs, with a cantilever of 14 meters from the central core and a thickness that ranges from 12 cm to 6 cm on the outer edge. The central core limits its contact with the ground to four supports connected to one other by segmental arches, and the interior is topped by a dome, also low rise, with a central skylight. This is all built using a single material, concrete, and it is finished with large sliding aluminum walls around the perimeter.
Hardy obtained some recognition for his work – which he tried to patent as a building system – when he became the only Belgian represented in the 1964 exhibition Twentieth Century Engineering. Organized by the MOMA in New York, the exhibition contributed decisively to popularizing the work of architects in engineering, such as Eero Saarinen and Felix Candela. Hardy’s work, however, was largely forgotten after his untimely death in 1965.
Belgium
Aéroport Grimbergen, Humbeeksesteenweg 313
Flemish Region. Flemish Brabant (Province) 1850 Grimbergen
Commission
1947
Completion
1951