NORTH CITY

Programme: An urban upcycling project that forms the root of an emerging mixed-use in the North of Brussels, near the Haren train station and the Haecht roadway.

About: The programme of the project consists in the creation of a mixed-use environment comprising affordable housing, an urban industrial park with warehouses, workshops and showrooms, and a business incubator with combined office and productive facilities, completed by interior and exterior communal spaces. The project’s intentions are to open up the site and connect it to its surroundings, to reuse and upcycle a large part of the existing structure, to provide pleasant outdoor and communal spaces that foster positive relationships between the various functions of the redevelopment, and to become a catalyst for the further revitalisation of the surrounding neighbourhood. The 123 apartments housing ensemble is located on the southeastern part of the site. Its immediate contact with the Middelweg reinforces the latter’s urbanity and contributes to the informal social control of the public space. The industrial park and the business incubator reuse much of the pre-existing structure and the pre-existing roof, with limited selective demolition providing the circulation space required to access the various units. Wrapped around the reused structure, a combination of new façades and new volumes completely redefine the architectural identity of the site.