Belgian Studio OYO Architects Perches a Red-Steel Office Above an Ostend Warehouse
Belgian studio OYO Architects has completed a steel-framed office block suspended on columns above a working warehouse in the port of Ostend, Belgium, creating a combined operations and service centre for the energy company Elia (Dezeen, 12 August 2026).
The building reads as two distinct parts. Below sits a long monolithic concrete block stretching along the harbourside, housing the warehouse, workshop and service area. Above it, raised on red steel columns, floats a three-storey office block — a choice the architects made instead of simply stacking offices as a top floor running the building's full length. Lifting the offices gave them a view across the docks and created a visible landmark for Elia, which operates offshore electricity infrastructure in the North Sea.
The design is meant to evoke the offshore platforms Elia uses for electricity generation, with its red steel structure left exposed throughout the office spaces and floor-to-ceiling windows wrapping the rooms in natural light. A steel walkway runs around the building on all sides, functioning as a wrap-around balcony. The lower two floors of the office block contain open-plan workspaces, a control room and meeting rooms, while the top storey holds a visitor centre and a viewpoint overlooking the port.
Below, the warehouse's precast concrete cladding panels were cast on a bed of sand to give the surface a rippled effect — a tactile nod to the maritime setting. That watery theme runs through the interior as well. Reused and recycled maritime materials appear throughout the centre. Office carpets were made from recycled fishing nets; acoustic panels from seagrass; side tables incorporate seashells. The designer Re-volt converted several old sea buoys into entrance lights, turning navigational debris into overhead fixtures.
OYO Architects, based in Ghent, won a competition to design the centre, submitting the project as part of a joint venture with Tractebel, the engineering firm (Elia press release, 15 December 2023). Elia unveiled the design that December, describing the centre as sustainable and noting that it would combine logistics, offices, a workshop, meeting and reception rooms, a crisis room and an operations control room under one roof. Construction followed shortly after.
What makes the building distinctive is the way its two halves hold their ground. The warehouse base is heavy, grounded and industrial — a long concrete slab doing practical work. The office block above is its opposite: light, open and bright, lifted off the ground on slender red columns like a platform standing over water. The contrast is deliberate, and it gives the port a piece of architecture that is both functional and legible from a distance, readable as a beacon for the company that operates the offshore grid beyond the breakwater.
For Ostend, a port city on Belgium's North Sea coast, the centre adds a working building with a public face — the visitor centre and viewpoint on the top floor mean the building is not only for Elia's staff but also for anyone curious about what happens where the harbour meets the open sea.
