Circular renovation for social housing and retail

This renovation/extension project meets the “sustainable building” objectives of the Contrat de Quartier Les Marolles. Our starting point is the conservation of heritage and structurally reliable elements (= keeping them in place) and the recycling of materials and elements that have to be demolished (= reuse on site) in order to “remove the word WASTE” from the renovation process. Thus, we keep all brick vaults, visible at the ground floor, as well as the facades which will be restored to their original state. Bricks from demolished elements will be re-used to create a continuous floor covering on the ground floor. Our main ambition was to create “voids” in order to offer various spatial qualities both indoor and outdoor and to keep privacy between users and with the neighbours. By designing a covered alley at the ground floor, a patio in the middle of the plot between the existing volume and the extension at the back, and solarium terrace at the upper floors, we offer more light, air and views in the narrow and deep plot. The program itself emphasises the importance of “reuse” by integrating an educational workshop on ground floor for the collect /repair & resale of household appliances, also aimed at social and professional reintegration. The ground floor is a large, dynamic plateau with a covered alley (historic passage) allowing independent access to the dwellings on the upper floors and to the rear garden, collective service areas and a largely glazed commercial space (showroom-workshop-kitchenette) accessible from the street. On the upper floors, for the dual-aspect apartments, there is a night zone towards the street and a day zone around a patio and towards the garden, while for the duplex, there is a vertical separation between day and night zones. We propose several layout floorplans and spatial qualities, with a maximum of comfort and natural light and a minimum of promiscuity. This allows great freedom of adaptation at all levels, to meet current and future needs, sensitive to social balance.

location Brussels | client public, CPAS (OCMW) | program 3 social housing / atelier and commercial groundfloor / collective garden | surface 800 m2 | budget 1,5M € | date 2020 | phase sketch design | collaboration ATELIER 4/5