Home > Magazine > Issues > #36 Nov/Dec 2010 > Housing, Brussels

Housing, Brussels

Housing

BRUSSELS (BE) - L'Escaut introduces openness and a strong visual presence into a typical industrial urban site.

The city of Brussels still bears many traces of its industrial past. One such reminder is the Willebroek shipping canal that linked the city to the economic and regional system between France, the Netherlands and Germany. The inland port of Brussels was a place of passage for goods transported to the many workshops that had been built in the city, mainly inside street blocks. The principal activities, manufacturing and the processing of farm produce (meat, cheese, hides, etc.), were still very much alive in the mid-20th century. Another major activity was beer brewing; the Brussels region alone had hundreds of breweries of all sizes.

The Cheval Noir project involves one of these old breweries, Hellemans, right beside the canal in the Molenbeek district, facing the old city centre and close to the old Senne riverbed. The area was gradually abandoned following industrial closures and the pauperization of the area. Its regeneration, involving numerous public institutions and building companies, commenced some years ago.

The project consists of 31 live-work units spread over one existing and one new building. The original owner of the site, the Communauté Française Wallonie-Bruxelles, handed it over to a public company, the Fond du Logement, for a symbolic sum. In exchange, the company was to construct social housing in the form of home studios for artists. A high density was required to justify the initial investment.

The architects of L'Escaut, in partnership with Atelier Gigogne, were responsible for the design. In adapting the existing structure to its new function, they sought to preserve its original character by leaving original materials intact and avoiding the addition of new layers as much as possible. The building's L-shape, together with the demolition of some outbuildings, made space for the new structure. The resulting zinc-clad, reinforced concrete tower is a striking structure with slanting, sculptural and showy facades. The decision to construct a vertical building was based on the need to bring as much light as possible into the units on the lower floors and to accommodate a lift, footbridges and metal stairways for easy access to all levels. The original brick chimney in the courtyard was retained both to enliven the communal outdoor spaces and to preserve the industrial memory.

The apartments are all different. Most occupy two floors (duplexes), and sizes vary from 70 to 110 m². Interior divisions were kept to an absolute minimum, allowing residents to arrange the spaces to suit their needs. Round openings lined with reinforced concrete were punched in the rear facade of the existing building, overlooking Place Brunfaut, and fitted with fixed windows. The randomly positioned openings increase the amount of interior light. Although this looks like a design ploy to liven up an old and unassuming brick facade, the shape of the openings actually ensures that the brick walls do not weaken and guarantees the stability of the building.

Place Brunfaut was designed some years ago to give the local population a public space and social housing from various epochs surrounds it. This project, aimed at artists, could be seen as a form of gentrification, but in fact it is intended to forge links with the local community. The site is accessible on two sides, and can be used as a through-route by non-residents. This permeability is a gamble aimed at promoting relations between the inhabitants and giving rise to a mixed community that is open to the city. The open circulation system, with metal footbridges in galvanized steel, enlivens the shared spaces and reinforces the sense of community.

The new 'tower' is an enigmatic but intriguing construction. The numerous folds are a variation on the theme of fluctuating and dilated space. Inside, it is dominated by walls in precast exposed concrete punctured by large, wood-framed windows. The tense relationship between the reassuring, orthogonal wooden surrounds and the sloping concrete walls results in unusual visual distortions and a surprising relationship with the cityscape. From the same window, one can admire the monuments in the city centre as well as the roofs of adjacent industrial sheds. The contrast may not sound all that strange for a city with both an ancient and a more recent industrial history, but the impact of the sometimes disproportionate openings and the imposing wooden surrounds exaggerates the views and makes the ordinary spectacular.

This also applies to the new round openings in the existing building. Overlooking an urban panorama of little significance, they turn it into a dynamic play. From the square, the alternation of the original windows and the new round ones brings new life to the public space.