ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Design Museum Gent Reopens After €20m Eco-Focused Expansion with New DING Wing

institutional · 2026-09-29

On October 3rd, the Design Museum Gent reopened its doors following a €20 million renovation and expansion that took four years. The highlight of this project is DING (Design in Gent), a new five-story section that adds around 2,000 square meters of flexible space for lectures, workshops, and exhibitions, featuring a new atrium that now acts as the main entrance at Drabstraat. The redesign was led by London’s Carmody Groarke, in partnership with Antwerp's RE-ST and Gent's ATAMA. A striking façade uses over 82,000 local Gent Waste Bricks from lime-cured municipal waste, while a shaded indoor area was designed by Brussels-based Bureau Bas Smets. Director Katrien Laporte encouraged the use of sustainable materials for ten toilets. The museum aims to expand the definition of 'design' and promote discussions on community living. Curator Evelien Bracke links this approach to the museum's founding in 1903, when it served as a 'museum of models.' Two temporary exhibitions, Public Matter(s): Design and Democracy and CO-LAB, will be displayed until April 11, 2027, with the free exhibition Connect running until January 10, 2027.

Key facts

  • Design Museum Gent reopened on 3 October after a €20m, four-year expansion and renovation.
  • The new five-level DING wing adds around 2,000 sq. m of flexible space for lectures, workshops and exhibitions.
  • The museum's ten toilets feature sustainable designs including seaweed panelling, recycled household plastics and volcanic-ash floor tiles.
  • The façade is built from more than 82,000 locally produced Gent Waste Bricks made from lime-cured municipal waste.
  • Carmody Groarke, RE-ST and ATAMA transformed a vacant lot on Drabstraat into an enclosed atrium serving as the main entrance.
  • A shaded indoor area with a woodland-edge climate was created by Brussels-based Bureau Bas Smets.
  • Public Matter(s): Design and Democracy and CO-LAB run until 11 April 2027; Connect runs until 10 January 2027.
  • The museum was founded in 1903 as a 'museum of models' and was previously housed in the Leten House, Hotel de Coninck and a 1992 wing.

Entities

Artists

  • Katrien Laporte
  • Bieke Vermeire
  • Evelien Bracke
  • Andy Groarke
  • Sian Ricketts
  • Siegrid Demyttenaere
  • Amelie Klein
  • Vera Sacchetti
  • Dries Depoorter
  • 2manydjs
  • Willy Verstraete
  • Tim Abrahams
  • Carmody Groarke
  • ATAMA
  • TRANS architectuur | stedenbouw
  • RE-ST architectenvennootschap
  • RE-ST
  • Kana Arioka
  • OpenStructures
  • Victor Verhelst
  • Nord
  • Laura Muyldermans
  • Jon Stam
  • Valentin Vogelman
  • Boris Smeenk
  • Chevalier-Masson
  • Michiel De Cleene
  • Filip Dujardin
  • Kevin Carmody
  • Casimir
  • Bram Vanderbeke
  • Wendy Andreu
  • Peter Zumthor
  • Alvar Aalto
  • Charles Eames
  • Ray Eames
  • Arne Jacobsen
  • Victor Horta
  • Henry van de Velde
  • Gaetano Pesce
  • Ettore Sottsass
  • Maarten Van Severen
  • Tapio Wirkkala
  • Eva Zeisel
  • Olivier Van D'huynslager
  • Marijs Kempynck
  • Sadie Williams
  • Yufei Gao
  • Biobased Creations
  • Jaron Vandevelde
  • Queer Collective Workers’ Union
  • Marie Verdeil
  • Maxence Duterne
  • Studio d-o-t-s
  • Structure Bâtons
  • Josef Jakob Rieper
  • Egon Watteeuw
  • Sharon Van Overmeiren
  • Studio LOHO
  • Shirley Villavicencio Pizango
  • Loulou João
  • Aryz
  • Francesco Faraci
  • Alexandre Arrechea
  • Matisse Di Maggio
  • Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
  • Bas Smets
  • Unfold

Institutions

  • Design Museum Gent
  • DING
  • Carmody Groarke
  • RE-ST
  • ATAMA
  • Bureau Bas Smets
  • City of Ghent
  • The Art Newspaper
  • Atama
  • Re-st
  • Circular Flanders
  • Sogent
  • Local Works Studio
  • BC Materials
  • Unfold
  • Grond Studio
  • Vlaams Bouwmeester
  • Saint Bavo's Cathedral
  • Hotel de Coninck
  • The Guardian
  • BRUSK
  • TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw
  • Canadian Centre for Architecture
  • Superurbanism podcast
  • TRANS architectuur | stedenbouw
  • RE-ST architectenvennootschap
  • Baumeister
  • Het Arsenaal
  • Ney & Partners
  • Boydens Engineering
  • Daidalos Peutz
  • Skellet
  • OpenStructures
  • designboom
  • Dezeen
  • Mind Museum
  • Foundation Beyeler
  • Design Fest Gent
  • Westwing
  • Crosby Studios
  • Wu-Tang Clan
  • Clarks
  • 24Bottles
  • Softrock
  • Pastiglie Leone
  • Apple Music Hall
  • Apple
  • Gouvernement
  • Trefpunt – Bar Edward
  • Dada Chapel
  • BROEI
  • Fluvius

Locations

  • Gent
  • Belgium
  • Drabstraat
  • Antwerp
  • Brussels
  • London
  • Leten House
  • Hotel de Coninck
  • Ghent
  • United Kingdom
  • East Sussex
  • Amsterdam
  • Netherlands
  • Austria
  • Flanders
  • Bruges
  • Zuivelbrug
  • Hooiaard
  • Grasbrug
  • Count's Castle
  • Denmark
  • Switzerland
  • Belgio
  • Grecia
  • Jan Breydelstraat

Sources

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