Bright green steel-framed stairs and walkways wrap around the concrete frame of Atelier PPW, a studio block designed by local studio NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte and architect Kris Broidioi for a school in Belgium.
The building, called Atelier PPW, is located on the VTI Oostende campus in Ostend and replaces a structurally compromised block that previously divided the site.
The project was shortlisted in the Education Projects category of the Dezeen Awards 2025.
According to NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte and architect Kris Broidioi, the design of Atelier PPW was guided by the concept of “building only the essentials.”
Its external circulation connects the two neighboring buildings around a central courtyard, while behind it a reddish-brown concrete frame with floor-to-ceiling glazing provides bright, easily adaptable workshop and teaching spaces.
“Every design decision is based on the idea of doing more with less: less material, less fixation, less energy required,” Pieter Vandeputte, an employee at NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte, told Dezeen.
“The project reduces architecture to its structural and functional core, revealing a clear framework that can adapt and evolve over time. Circulation and technical systems are moved outside to free up interior space and minimize conditioned volume,” Vandeputte added.
“The result is a robust, minimalist structure that is open, flexible and readable. An architecture that teaches through example and celebrates simplicity as sustainable action.”
The centerpiece of the block is an open, double-height space divided by a series of concrete columns to allow for “creative chaos”. It is visible from both campus and the street through floor-to-ceiling glazing punctuated by vertical red steel supports.
On the first floor, this large hall is overlooked by classrooms divided by reconfigurable partitions, while the top floor houses a series of smaller workshop spaces.
The block is flanked by two staircases and elevator bodies wrapped in vertical steel slats that have been painted bright green to make them easily recognizable. These cores not only allow access to the block, but also step-free access to the neighboring existing buildings.
Metal decks line the interior facade of Atelier PPW and overlook the campus courtyard. The top of these walkways is also painted light green and screened with metal screens for climbing plants.
“The most defining gesture is the externalization of transport and infrastructure, transforming a technical necessity into an architectural statement,” Vandeputte said. “The external walkways and stairs connect neighboring buildings, creating a clear connection across the entire campus.”
“In a future phase, the existing core on the other side of the bridge will receive the same green steel finish to improve orientation and visual continuity, while the circulation cores and walkways will make the entire campus fully accessible,” he added.
NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte's previous projects included the addition of a garden pavilion and swimming pool house to a house in Flanders, also made of red-brown colored concrete.
Other projects shortlisted in the education category of the Dezeen Awards 2025 include an “overcrowded” arts center at Brighton College in the UK and a social center for the TA Pai Management Institute in India.
Photography is by Johnny Umans.