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<\/p>\nPerhaps it\u2019s the weather but, when visiting Belgium from the UK, it often feels there is a closer commonality than with other European countries. It may just be the superficial sensory combo of grey skies, bricks, beer and chips, but strong links and cultural exchange have always existed across the North Sea here, underpinned by centuries of trade \u2013 in particular in wool and textiles.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s on the bricks side of things where there\u2019s been a boom over the last two decades, supercharged by the establishment of the Flemish government architect and the instrument of the open call competition system \u2013 explored elsewhere in this issue \u2013 which placed design quality at the forefront of public commissions while throwing out an open invitation to foreign practices to apply. UK architects have enthusiastically responded to the welcome opportunity it offers to work in a European country after Brexit erected barriers to doing just that.<\/p>\n
As such, Belgium has become by far the richest hunting ground abroad for UK-based architects, at least architecturally (certain Middle Eastern countries no doubt offer greater financial rewards). This in turn has fostered a rich culture of collaboration and co-design between UK and Belgian practices with a resulting cross-fertilisation through practice and teaching.<\/p>\n
This round-up highlights some of the projects by UK-based architects in Belgium \u2013 projected, under construction or recently completed \u2013 the majority won through the open call or local competition. It gives a taste of the impressive range of often mixed-use briefs and building typologies that architects are getting the chance to work on across all sectors and scales: industrial and commercial workspace, community and public administration, cultural, housing, education, infrastructure, public space and urbanism.<\/p>\n
It also serves to highlight the high proportion of schemes that involve retrofit and reuse in a country that\u2019s been leading the way in circular economy construction.<\/p>\n
The only corollary to all this is the somewhat depressing perspective it throws on the dismal state of public commissioning of architecture in the UK by comparison.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Johannesburg and London-based studio Counterspace won a competition in June last year to design a new pedestrian bridge for the city of Vilvoorde and Horst Arts & Music. The design references the legacy of Paul Panda Farnana, one of the most important but least acknowledged figures of the city: epitomising the region\u2019s complex relationships with past and future generations of migrant bodies and communities. It features a \u2018series of boats tied together\u2019 to cross the canal, inspired by the water architecture of the Congo, with each \u2018boat\u2019 serving as an isolated seed bed and thus pollinator \u2013 also playing homage to Farnana\u2019s horticultural work.<\/p>\n
Location \u200a<\/strong>Vilvoorde | Start on site<\/strong> \u200aApril 2024 | Predicted completion<\/strong> \u200aDecember 2025 | Client<\/strong> Platform Kunst in Opdracht of the Flemish Department for Culture, Youth and Media, ANB (the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forest) partnered with DVW (the Flemish Agency for Waterways) | Construction cost<\/strong> Undisclosed<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The project, currently on site, transforms a cinema into a rehearsal hall-cum-recital room and ancillary accommodation for the Belgian National Orchestra. Attached to the Palais des Beaux-Arts (Bozar) in central Brussels, the hall is set within the Galerie Ravenstein, part of the 1928 masterplan of Belgian architect, Victor Horta. The scheme extends the existing space into the basement, increasing the scale of the room sufficiently to allow its acoustic performance and stage dimensions to closely match those of the Bozar\u2019s concert hall, designed by Horta.<\/p>\n Location \u200a<\/strong>Galerie Ravenstein, Brussels | Start on site<\/strong> 2022\/23 (shell works), May 2024 (fit-out) | Predicted completion<\/strong> \u200aJanuary 2025 | Client<\/strong> Belgian National Orchestra, Palais des Beaux-Arts (Bozar) | Construction cost<\/strong> \u20ac3 million (fit-out)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n De Roosenberg, a community building by Van Steenkiste and Bruggemans, has served Oud-Heverlee for 30 years. Henley Halebrown won a competition through the open call programme in 2023\/24 to transform its organisation, spaces and structure without any significant demolition to economise both cost and carbon. Strategic interventions reorientate the building towards adjacent parkland. The preserved hall remains at its centre but is enlarged with foyer added. The library repurposes the caf\u00e9 with brasserie and terrace now on the upper level. A multipurpose room accommodates a council chamber, reading rooms and art studios.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Oud-Heverlee | Predicted start on site<\/strong> 2026 | Predicted completion<\/strong> 2028 | Client<\/strong> Gemeentebestuur Oud-Heverlee | Construction cost<\/strong> \u20ac4,550,000 (building), \u20ac300,000 (landscape)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The development is part of a wider masterplan for a former industrial site in the centre of Aarschot, won in competition by DRDH and De Vylder Vinck Taillieu. The first phase was an elderly housing project, completed in 2014. The remaining masterplan was sold on by the city to developer Dyls, and further developed by Belgian architect a2o to incorporate 350 dwellings. DRDH recently completed the first of two buildings within this masterplan. It forms a necklace of housing around an existing urban block, creating one side of a new market square and reading as a rhythm of linked villas. DRDH\u2019s second building is planned for 2026.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Aarschot | Start on site<\/strong> September 2019 | Completion<\/strong> October 2023 (buildings), Spring 2024 (landscape) | Client<\/strong> Dyls (developer) | Construction cost<\/strong> \u20ac4.3 million<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Carmody Groarke\u2019s proposals for the extension of the Design Museum in Ghent, currently onsite, include a CLT structure and a prototype low-carbon brick. The scheme will create a 1,970m2 link building, known as DING (Design in Ghent) on an unused 372m\u00b2 piece of land next to the museum. The development will also refurbish existing spaces. The project has also won funding to develop and research the low carbon brick devised for the new wing, aptly named the Ghent Waste Brick, made from 63 per cent municipal waste with hydraulic lime.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Ghent | Start on site<\/strong> May 2023 | Predicted completion<\/strong> 2026 | Client<\/strong> Sogent on behalf of the City of Ghent, assisted by the Design Museum Ghent | Construction cost<\/strong> Undisclosed<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Won through a city competition, this project creates an urban block on a key site next to the River Scheldt. A mix of 250 homes alongside commercial accommodation is set within six buildings enclosing a public garden. DRDH is designing three of these: a small tower that marks the corner; an apartment building facing the water; and a block of family housing. The project is designed to create a strong relationship with its context, the mineral character of its materials embracing the robust character and expression of nearby historic quayside buildings.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Eilandje, Antwerp North | Predicted start on site<\/strong> October 2024 | Predicted completion<\/strong> December 2027 | Client<\/strong> Cores (developer) | Construction cost<\/strong> \u20ac80 million (estimated)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The project reconceives the existing L-shaped Neoclassical 1840 opera house, designed by architect Louis Roelandt, expanding its site to include the city\u2019s original post office. This will form the core of a performing arts centre, set in a unified urban block arranged around a new courtyard. The original form of the opera house will be clarified and its three ballrooms restored. The current, inadequate backstage facilities will be demolished and rebuilt as a tower of large stacked rooms, housing a new public space, second performance venue, dance rehearsal space and side stage facilities.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Historic Centre, Ghent | Predicted start on site<\/strong> August 2026 | Predicted completion<\/strong> Autumn 2030 | Client<\/strong> City of Antwerp, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen | Construction cost<\/strong> \u20ac78 million<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This site was formerly a beguinage, similar to a convent or almshouse. The brief called for the site to be regenerated to provide an architecture faculty for the university, a public park and a tourist destination. The design creates an auditorium and museum in the beguinage gatehouse, a 30m-high belvedere tower visible from across town, and a public space within the walls of a war-bombed church. Dormer windows will transform attic spaces into teaching studios while new timber cores will reinstate the domestic character of the houses while creating a series of flexible spaces for the university.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Hasselt, Flanders | Start on site<\/strong> February 2023 | Predicted completion<\/strong> 2025 | Client<\/strong> University of Hasselt, City of Hasselt, Region of Limburg | Construction cost<\/strong> Undisclosed<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This building provides 44 new dwellings and ground-floor commercial spaces for the university city of Leuven, near Brussels. The whole development, of which this building is one, will enclose a new courtyard garden at its heart. The new building has a stepped based and tower, and completes the northern end of an urban block to the development site\u2019s south with its tower acting as a focal point for a new public square to the north and river-side park to the east. The masterplan also includes a series of residences being designed by David Chipperfield Architects.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Leuven | Start on site<\/strong> July 2023 |<\/strong> Predicted completion<\/strong> 2025 | Client<\/strong> Resiterra | Construction cost<\/strong> Undisclosed<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This project will transform the Art-Deco former Yser Citro\u00ebn car factory in the heart of Brussels into the 40,000m\u00b2 KANAL arts and cultural venue housing the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and CIVA Architecture Museum. The project\u2019s driver is to embrace the industrial identity of the former factory through a light-touch retrofit, inserting three new volumes for art and architecture. The well-known landmark building, a 21m-high glass palace at Square Sainctelette, will be one of the largest cultural venues in Europe. Once complete, it will provide learning opportunities as well as a framework for diverse curating, and a network of buildings and public spaces that act as an open forum \u2013 a catalyst for debate and social interaction. The design team won the project in 2018 and submitted it for planning in 2019. The scheme is being delivered in partnership with the KANAL Foundation and the Paris-based Centre Pompidou with the Development Corporation of the Brussels-Capital Region.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Brussels | Start on site<\/strong> 2022 | Predicted completion<\/strong> 2025 | Client<\/strong> Gouvernement de la R\u00e9gion de Bruxelles-Capitale | Construction cost<\/strong> \u20ac135 million<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This project converts the Leopoldskazerne, a disused military barracks in Ghent, into a 43,000m\u00b2 mixed-use development with the aim of opening the site up to the city. Historically an inaccessible enclave, the fortress-like building has been \u2018returned\u2019 to the city, integrating different functions and transforming it into a catalyst for change in the surrounding neighbourhood and city beyond. The old barracks houses 80 apartments and a creche, a caf\u00e9\/restaurant, art school and a hotel.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Ghent | Start on site<\/strong> January 2017 | Completion<\/strong> April 2024 | Client<\/strong> Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen | Construction cost<\/strong> \u20ac43 million<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This project involves a state-of-the-art performance venue and masterplan for a performing arts quarter on a 7ha former hospital site. Its transformation into a social and cultural destination includes the strategy to reimagine and present its existing buildings as \u2018open house\u2019: the idea being that all historic and cultural assets on the site will be sheltered collectively beneath a new roof. The venue will have a public \u2018live room\u2019 on the ground floor and open-access roof terrace. The large auditorium will be multifunctional.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Leuven | Predicted start on site<\/strong> 2025 | Predicted completion<\/strong> End of 2028 | Client<\/strong> City of Leuven | Construction cost<\/strong> \u20ac52 million (theatre), \u20ac5 million (landscape)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This project, on the banks of the River Leie in Ghent, is on a site most recently used for educational institutions. The main surviving school buildings were constructed between 1857-1912 and are listed as heritage assets. Over the years, the relationship between the school and wider neighbourhood has been lost, with later additions compromising coherence. The site, which has been underused for many years since the school\u2019s closure, will be opened up and redeveloped as a residential-led development with a mix of public uses on the ground floor. Some of the more recent additions will be removed and other buildings restored and converted. Two new structures will complement and expand the complex.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Ghent | Predicted start on sit<\/strong>e 2026 | Predicted completion<\/strong> 2028 | Client<\/strong> VDD Project Development | Construction cost<\/strong> Undisclosed<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This masterplan, won through competition, is for a former industrial site in the Biestebroeck area of Anderlecht, transforming it to create a city within the city \u2013 a major mixed-use district with around 400 social and affordable homes, 1,250m\u00b2 of light industrial and commercial facilities, and a school. Sergison Bates is responsible for five buildings and an underground car park designed to allow repurposing in the future.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Brussels | Start on site<\/strong> August 2019 | Predicted completion<\/strong> 2026 | Client<\/strong> SLRB, Citydev, Ecole de Tous, Foyer Anderlechtois | Construction cost<\/strong> Undisclosed<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This commission, covered as a building study by the AJ last year, is in the south-east of Brussels. Royale Belge is an example of 1960s corporate Belgian architecture, completed in 1970 as an insurance company HQ. The project is essentially about doing as little as possible to the building: reusing and recycling materials where feasible. Its original Cor-ten steel fa\u00e7ade framework has been retained while, on the ground floor, large openings have been formed in the original marble-clad walls of the entrance hall as part of its reorganisation to incorporate offices, co-working, hotel, health club and restaurant.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Brussels | Start on site<\/strong> September 2019 | Completion<\/strong> June 2023 | Client<\/strong> Souverain 25 SA | Construction cost<\/strong> \u200a\u20ac63 million<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over the years, piecemeal modifications have compromised the appearance and silhouette of the 1924 Grand Hotel in the seaside town of Nieuwpoort. The project aims to restore the Apollon Lagache-designed building to its former grandeur through its restoration and vertical extension, of which the upper floors will house apartments while a restaurant, bar and shops will reconnect it to a revitalised public realm. The listed historic building fabric is being carefully restored, including its entrance and original decorative fa\u00e7ade features.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Nieuwpoort | Start on site<\/strong> 2023 | Predicted completion<\/strong> 2025 | Client<\/strong> VDD Project Development | Construction cost<\/strong> \u200aUndisclosed<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A new urban residential quarter is being developed on the former Tour and Taxis industrial site close to Brussels\u2019 city centre and adjacent to a new park. The scheme will provide 93,000m\u00b2 of residential units (900 homes) \u2013 including a care home, assisted living accommodation, communal facilities and green shared spaces \u2013 in addition to 3,000m2 of commercial and public facilities. The layout prioritises the green landscape with buildings organised around public courtyards, and creates distinct neighbourhoods within the site. Sergison Bates is designing seven of the buildings.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Brussels | Start on site<\/strong> January 2016 | Predicted completion<\/strong> 2025 | Client<\/strong> Project T&T NV (Nextensa, formerly Extensa) | Construction cost<\/strong> \u200a\u20ac140 million<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tuckey Design Studio won an international competition last year to redevelop a 19th-century tannery into an eco-retreat and cultural hub in the Walloon region. The brief called for the original structure to be preserved and restored while injecting contemporary functions in a bid to attract tourism and commerce. The building will be a cultural meeting point, offering accommodation, dining and outdoor activity. It will feature a lightweight linear ground-floor extension with expansive glazing offering views of the woodland beyond. A timber colonnade references the original\u2019s rhythmic internal vernacular.<\/p>\n Location<\/strong> Dourbes, Wallonia | Predicted start on site<\/strong> 2024 | Predicted completion<\/strong> TBC | Client<\/strong> Miss Miyagi | Construction cost<\/strong> Undisclosed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Perhaps it\u2019s the weather but, when visiting Belgium from the UK, it often feels there is a closer commonality than with other European countries. It may just be the superficial sensory combo of grey skies, bricks, beer and chips, but strong links and cultural exchange have always existed across the North Sea here, underpinned by …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59337,"featured_media":741369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[706],"tags":[2824,2812,2018,6279,2339,1479,2777,100939],"yoast_head":"\nBelgian National Orchestra Rehearsal Room by DRDH<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17110351\/2023_20230105_BNO-SHELL_complete_Construction-copy.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDe Roosenberg by Henley Halebrown with WV Architecten<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17110523\/3000_9_2312_vis_01_Entrance_credit-Filippo-Bolognese-Images-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nde Torens Masterplan Urban Housing by DRDH<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17110719\/RT-DSC_0648-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDesign Museum Ghent by Carmody Groarke with TRANS architectuur|stedenbouw and RE-ST<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17111053\/307_Render_04_Exterior_Courtyard-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFriendship Mixed Use Urban Block by DRDH with Hub Architecten<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17111148\/DRDHHU1-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nGhent Opera restoration and extension by DRDH<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17111309\/DRDH_Ghent-Opera_new-peristyle-entrance-and-cut-through-to-courtyard-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHasselt Beguinage by David Kohn Architects with Bovenbouw Architectuur<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17112727\/229_N21-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHertogensite Building by Sergison Bates with Katrol<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17112854\/171_SecchiSmith_SB_LeuvenHousing_View01_FinalHR_210820_LR-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nKANAL Contemporary Arts Centre and Architecture Museum by Sergison Bates with noArchitecten and EM2N<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17113026\/KANAL_Site-Photo_06-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLeopoldkazerne, East Flanders Provincial Government Headquarters by Sergison Bates with 360 architecten and B2Ai<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17113135\/Leopoldskazerne-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLeuven Performing Arts Quarter Redevelopment by Sergison Bates with eld NV and Charcoalblue<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17113307\/118_Secchi-Smith_SB_Leuven_Courtyard_Final-HR_220207-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLindenlei 38 by David Chipperfield Architects<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17113411\/1615_Lindenlei_Cam001_Riverfront_AM_002-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPetite \u00cele \/ City Gate Masterplan by Sergison Bates with noArchitecten, Korteknie Stuhlmacher Architecten, AHA + Elseline Bazin and Boom Landscape<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17113559\/358_NW_OUT02-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRoyale Belge by Caruso St John and Bovenbouw Architectuur with DDS+<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17113651\/033-Royale-Belge-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Grand Residential Building by David Chipperfield Architects with Bureau Bouwtechniek<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17113757\/1368_The-Grand_08_C_DCA_N2-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTour and Taxis Residential Quarter by Sergison Bates with AWG and noaArchitecten<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/05\/17113929\/TT-TOUR-0861-edit-HR-copy-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nViroinval Tannery by Tuckey Design Studio with BC Architects & Studies<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n