Chipperfield restores historic grand hotel in Belgium

British star architect David Chipperfield is rebuilding the former Grand Hotel Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast with a sensitive eye for history – and making it fit for the future.

David Chipperfield Architects (London) are currently renovating a noble Grand Hotel on the Belgian coast in Nieuwpoort, Flanders, one of the most iconic hotels there, with a sensitive eye on the history, but also with an eye on current needs and the future viability of the building.

The project, which began in 2019 and is called “The Grand”, adapts and extends the historic hotel building. Chipperfield is transforming the complex into a residential building while restoring its landmark status. The Grand Hotel Nieuwpoort fell into disrepair over time as the city grew and the Second World War devastated the harbor district. The building has been empty since 2018. Most recently, individual vacation apartments were rented out in it.

David Chipperfield carefully analyzed the history of the 15,100 square meter building “to preserve its distinctive qualities and to understand how it should be taken into the future.”

The design now envisages seventy apartments on the upper floors. In addition, the historic bar and brasserie facing the sea and the three stores facing the street are to be restored in order to reconnect the building with the public space. The Grand Hotel will also be extended by four storeys.

The preserved historical building fabric is being carefully restored. Restorers are working on the entrance and the original façade, which has been a listed building since 1981 and is richly decorated with baroque garlands, medallions, festoons and floral motifs as well as profiled arches and statues. Elements that no longer exist, such as the magnificent roof structures with towers and domes as well as the large public rooms, which were destroyed and filled in in the 1950s, are being reconstructed by the London architects in collaboration with local conservation experts. They are taking their cue from the original design by Apollon Lagache from 1924 and recreating it “in a contemporary reinterpretation of the existing architectural language”. For the project, David Chipperfield Architects is working closely with Brussels-based Origin Architecture & Engineering, one of Belgium’s leading companies specializing in the restoration and renovation of listed buildings.

The building itself will gain in size with the additional four storeys and, thanks to the vertical structure, will regain its presence as a landmark on Nieuwpoort’s beach promenade, which was once popular in the 19th century.

According to David Chipperfield Architects, the extension of the landmark building underlines the “sensitive understanding of the value of cultural heritage and includes a new interpretation alongside the restoration”. The firm emphasizes that the conversion neither imposes a style or signature on the building nor creates a contrast between the historic substance and the additions. The renovation can therefore be seen as “part of a largely forgotten tradition of adapting and extending historic buildings” and simply forms another layer of time.

However, it is not only the former Nobel Hotel that is being redesigned, but also the adjacent Hendrikaplein, a bonus from the city council. The square is to become a place to experience and meet, with benches and rest areas in the style of the restored residence, which can be seen in the background. The current parking spaces will disappear. The center of the Nieuwpoort seaside resort will thus change over the next few years. Completion of the renovation is planned for 2024 – the 100th anniversary of the Grand Hotel.

Read more: David Chipperfield Architects have just refurbished the Neue Nationalgalerie by Mies van der Rohe in Berlin and recently completed the extension to the Kunsthaus Zürich.