The Lange Munte sports campus, located in Hoog Kortrijk on the border between residential and agricultural areas, is getting a new master plan. GAFPA is developing a vision for the future that focuses on landscape and infrastructure.

The plan is based on the natural structure of the landscape and the agricultural parcelling, with a focus on preserving wetlands and restoring historic canals. Service traffic during major events will be separated from the main route, which will be reserved exclusively for athletes and recreational users. Walking and cycling paths from the wider area will be reconnected to the site. The whole plan interweaves natural elements with space for various sports and festivals.

GAFPA is designing the new outdoor sports infrastructure and the renovation of the cafeteria. The extension, which is attached to the existing sports hall in the form of a low, elongated canopy, draws a line in the landscape. It materialises the main axis of the site and creates a roof under which changing rooms, sanitary facilities and storage rooms are clustered.

Architecturally, the new building adopts the language of the old sports hall, designed by bOb Van Reeth. The abstract orange-red brick surfaces of the existing façades are echoed in the blind new volumes, the aluminium joinery in the sharpness of the canopy. Where the canopy extends beyond the sports hall, it becomes a terrace for the cafeteria on the upper floor. This has a double orientation with a view of the indoor hall and the outdoor sports facilities. On the roof of the new extension, a new outdoor grandstand is being created, overlooking the sports fields over the existing embankment.