The brick- and tile works ‘Société Anonyme Céramiques et Briqueteries du Littoral’, whose installations had been destroyed at Ramskapelle during the first war, moved its factory in 1923 to Kortrijk. The chosen site was strategically located between the Bossuit-Kortrijk canal and the railway to Ronse - thus on an axis which facilitated the Borinage's coal supply and the export of their finished products to major cities such as Ghent and Antwerp. Moreover, in Kortrijk, one could take advantage of the great reconstruction activity was damaged zone in the north of France and in Belgium. Typical for all tile factories in the Kortrijk area, from the end of the 19th century, was the use of large drying sheds, where the tiles dried under controlled relative humidity conditions, heated in winter by excess steam of the steam engine, air-conditioned in summer by a stream of artificial air. The kilns of the Tuilerie du Littoral were put out of use and abandoned from the 1960s. A first row - the oldest - was demolished in March 1989. In 1998, rumors circulated that plans existed to demolish the buildings. A civil campaign ('SOS Kortrijk') arose, asking for the legal protection of the last complete site testifying the history of the famous tile industry in the Leie-valley. The drying sheds were protected historic monuments gainst the will of the owner (s.a Koramic, the successor of the ‘Littoral’) who argued that no one could imagine a new function or an affordable reuse. The rest of the complex was not protected and was demolished in 2009, with the exception of the steam engine room (with two preserved engines) and the facades of the clay storage halls, elements for which the city of Kortrijk refused the demolition permit. They are still awaiting a restoration and a development project. Koramic's industrial activities were taken over in 2004 by the Austrian group Wienerberger, while the old Koramic company was changed into a real estate developer Koramic Real Estate and an investor Koramic Investment Group. In 2005 Koramic Real Investment carried out the necessary work to protect the drying sheds from the effects of rain and wind -and receivedfor this a 60% subsidy from the Flemish government. In 2009-2011 the building was transformed into a modern office building, low in energy consumption. At the announcement of the project Mr Christian Dumolin, President of Koramic, declared that "we are very pleased to be able to guarantee the future of this magnificent building, after a search for a solution for years and in perfect cooperation with the City ff Kortrijk and the Monuments and Sites Department. The renovation of building offers a significant added value to the region of Kortrijk, with the enhancement of this outstanding industrial heritage ". The architectural design of the renovation is based on the box-in-the-box principle, which means that the characteristic facade has been left intact: it now offers an effective solar shading. The building includes a hybrid ventilation system consisting of natural ventilation with mechanical support. Using heat recovery, the system transfers useful energy and moisture through a heat recovery wheel placed between the incoming and outgoing air. This reduces energy consumption to a minimum. In September 2011 this project won the Prix 2020challenge, a competition highlighting innovative and sustainable solutions. In addition, at the request of the Monuments Department, a bay of the drying sheds is kept intact, including the shelves on which the tiles were previously laid to dry, and all the equipment necessary for transporting the tiles and controlling the temperature and relative humidity.