Archipelago appointed as Industrial Promotor VLAIO Innovatiemandaat with UGhent & KU Leuven

We are proud to share that archipelago and Ghent University have been granted the three-year research project ‘Right tech’, supported by the Flemish Government through the VLAIO Innovatiemandaat framework.

Together with Ghent University and supported by KU Leuven, we will further develop the concept of right tech for low-carbon building design: an approach in which architecture takes back a leading role in creating a comfortable indoor climate, while technical installations are reduced to what is truly necessary.

At Archipelago, this thinking is already being explored in practice, including in our Leuven office and several ongoing projects. The ambition of this research is to move from intuition and project-based experience towards a scientifically grounded, reproducible design framework.

The first year will focus on fundamental research into the whole-life environmental impact of technical installations. In the following two years, the research will be translated into an applied framework together with Archipelago, supporting the implementation of right tech concepts in real projects.

This recognition confirms the relevance of a design approach that seeks the right balance between passive architectural intelligence and active technical systems: not too much, not too little, but exactly what is needed.

A warm thank you to everyone involved: dr. ir. arch. Yanaika Decorte, prof. Marijke Steeman at Ghent University, prof. Hilde Breesch at KU Leuven, and ir arch Joost Declercq, who will supervise the project from Archipelago’s side as Industrial Promotor.

Together, we look forward to contributing to a more resilient, resource-conscious and low-carbon built environment.