The Knokke Casino was built in 1930 to the Art Deco design of the famous Belgian architect Leon Styne. It is now to have an ultra modern hotel and apartment tower without losing its original façade. The creative design of New York-based Steven Holl Architects was selected in a competition for the restoration and expansion of the casino overlooking the sea at Albert Plage in Knokke-Heist. The Partouche Groupe casino will have its façade restored with a new curtain wall and the hotel will be given a grand entrance.

The Knokke Casino has long been famous for its murals and chandelier. René Francois-Ghislain Magritte, the Belgian surrealist artist born in 1898, painted the first mural at the casino in 1953. A further mural was added in 1983 by Paul Delvaux, and the gaming area is decorated with Jean Lurçat tapestries. The chandelier, said to be the largest in Europe, has 2,700 lamps. The new tower design, selected by the town council of Knokke-Heist, certainly had to continue with the history of superlatives associated with the building.

The town council was seeking a new dimension of international character for Knokke-Heist and the design of Steven Holl Architects is just that. The competition asked for “something extraordinary, something that will become the epitome of Knokke-Heist “ and the tripartite thin sail-like tower soaring above the casino will doubtless become a landmark. The inspiration was provided by the Magritte mural The Ship Which Tells the Story to the Mermaid, and a new convention centre extending inland will resemble a mermaid’s tail.

The design includes retail outlets, restaurants, galleries, and a public observation deck. The thin hotel tower, with its glass curtain wall, will provide every room with a sea view, and the glass exterior of the convention centre will be covered with a perforated laser-cut metal wall to create interesting shadow effects in the interior. An adjacent pedestrian space, to be known as Casino Square, will serve to integrate the project with the rest of the city.

The Knokke-Heist image will be completely altered by the new tower, unusual in Northern Europe. René Magritte once said, "My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable." The use, by the architects www.stevenholl.com, of Magritte's imagery of a ship and a mermaid may not be much of a mystery as the result looks breathtaking. (E-08.12.05)

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