The ARK, a timber-made modular showroom by Ark Shelter

The ARK, a timber-made modular showroom realized by ‘Ark Shelter’

Modular and prefabricated architecture has made great strides in recent years and has been applied in a variety of fields, including industrial buildings, residential complexes – through the concept of minimum emergency housing units -, and the service sector.
This type of construction is quite interesting because of its environmental sustainability, mainly thanks to the materials used, and the reversibility of the interventions it permits.
A further element of interest is the speed of execution delivered by dry construction techniques in which the building parts are manufactured in factories and then assembled on-site in a very short time. Finally, where building regulations allow it, this technology allows easily adding temporary expansions to existing buildings, in a logic of ‘parasitic architecture’ which finds its raison d’etre, especially in dense urban areas.

Founded by Michiel De Backer and Martin Mikovcak, Ark Shelter deals with the design and construction of prefabricated modular buildings.
The team – comprising architects, engineers, and craftsmen – designs and builds residential buildings, showrooms, and offices. Every unit produced, made in a workshop and assembled on-site, consists of a CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) core, with internal and external finishes mainly made in wood.
The ARK, designed by Ark Shelter, is a showroom built in Ternat (Belgium) for GAB- Group Alain Broekaert (a fashion brand distributor in Belgium and Luxembourg) in an area adjacent to a garden and a small historic building.
With a total area of 200 square meters on two floors, the showroom was built by assembling 5 custom-designed units that were realized in about two months and assembled in a few days.

Project Facts

Author: Studio Ark-shelter | Martin Mikovčák, architect  –  Michiel De Backer, architect
Website: www.ark-shelter.com
Project location Assesteenweg 96, 1740 Ternat, Belgium
Completion year: 2019
Built-up Area: 154 m2
Gross floor area: 227 m2
Client: GAB
Photo credits: BoysPlayNice

Photos

Above: The ARK was designed and built by ‘Ark Shelter’ for GAB.
Images courtesy of Ark Shelter  https://www.ark-shelter.com
photos byBoysPlayNice