The base for the development of Ter Heidelaan is the combination of a clear and powerful new public space with compact, sustainable houses. In this new system, a hierarchy in outdoor space, provides different typologies. The new lane is the fundament for the design, a connecting element between the Liersesteenweg and the sidewalk on the east side. The roadway is asymmetrical, this creates a wide lane with green space on the sides. A space for trees, water and green. On the north side, 2 courtyards are linked to the lane. Apartments and ground-level homes are situated around the courtyards. A building with compact apartments is situated between the lane and the courtyard. To point out the relationship between the various parts (courtyard and lane), the apartment building is lifted. This creates a visual relationship between the public lane and the more intimate yard. A covered outdoor space is created where the entrance to the apartments is situated. This space is also useful as a meeting point. There is a need for new, smaller social housing in Aarschot. Around 80 affordable homes are provided, in the first and second phase. These houses are designed in different typologies and this will lead to a diverse neighbourhood. A neighbourhood with a lot of attention for outside space and the relationship between interior and exterior.

Some upcoming changes adjacent to the Impasse des Moineaux ask for a intelligent approach for the sustainable (re)development of this inner area on Rue Gray. Cleaning up the dirty soil, the necessity for affordable housing and an access to the research center for urban green make the transformation necessary. The informal green atmosphere that determines the quality of the existing vegetable garden defines the conditions for the re-design of this un-urban place right in the center of Brussels.
Precisely by seeking to maximize the influence of the garden we avoid a fragmentation of the garden. All other elements are designed as ‘objects in the garden’.

Two living groups for 8 inhabitants with a light mental handicap and 4 service flats are integrated in the new housing plan for de de Bosschen neighborhood. Den Leeuweric is a compact and efficient building with a focus on the individual dweller. The scale, design and materialization of the Leeuweric building correspond follows the housing of the surrounding de Bosschen area, thus pairing the terms ‘community healthcare’ to a ‘cozy home’ for its residents.

The renewal plan puts emphasis on the integration of green and the connection to adjacent green structures in the area. Compact blocks of 3 houses are positioned in such a way that space for compact public squares is created along the Klimopstraat.
The first housing block has a somewhat different status and is addressing the central park. This is our robust answer to the relationship of these houses and the central park in the plan.

The building’s footprint occupies the entire site. It’s a striking building that meets all imposed conditions by means of smart transformations on the shape and internal organization regarding the integration in the area, the program for housing and parking, spatial quality, social living qualities and architecture. The rather simple outside of the building is completed with an exciting inner world where the common outside space and the entrances to the houses are located. The materials emphasize the difference between inside and outside.

The specific design of the urban plan of this new living area with approximately 50 new dwellings results in an “untraditional, non-flemish” development in the center block of the neighborhood. Here we propose to position back-toe-back houses with a compact outside space. The border between public and private needs to be designed carefully. This results in a healthy mix of different types of houses, including the standard Flemish house with a garden to a penthouse with a large roof terrace.

The project consists of an integral redevelopment of the plot of a former office villa on the Koningin Astridlaan in Turnhout. The intensive remodeling of the villa makes it possible to realize 4 apartments within the volume. In the garden there is space for the realization of 4 family houses and a kindergarten. This combination of housing and social services contributes to the liveliness of the neighborhood. The outside space will be redefined and will become part of the public space of the Astridlaan.

In the eighties the residential neighbourhood ‘de Bosschen’ was developed. A good link with the Parkwijk and the city park on the other side of the ‘Steenweg op Tielen’ was unfortunately not realized. The development of the site between the road and the neighbourhood is the chance to conceive this link. In this plan 50 new houses around a new green public space are carefully positioned within the exiting situation. The program consists of family houses in different typologies, group housing for people with special needs and a new public space that links the existing neighbourhoods and the city park. The development of De Bosschen is a good opportunity to design the integration of the two residential areas. When this connection is made, also the spacious city park is within reach for existing and new inhabitants.

In collaboration with Deca Packaging Group we designed a new headquarters that matches the innovative, future-oriented and ambitious character of this company. The result is a-building-in-one-piece where all the groups business parts are integrated. The new building presents itself as one robust building. The different functions are represented as aberrations to the main volume.

The complete building is cladded with steel façade profiles. Through the variation of the format of these point profiles cladding, the scale of the different façades is nuanced. The image of the building changes with the position of the sun and is always different depending on the moment in the day. The cladding is not a standard material. The profile is custom made for this project. The development of the material was a close collaboration between our designers and Arcelor Mittal.

The result is a façade where three different folded profiles are used. By changing the angle of the fold, a play of light and color emerges. Although the whole building has only one color, the different folding provides variation and liveliness in the image. The façade of the office is finished with the same façade profiles. Only here the profiles are perforated and movable, so they act as traditional sun-shadings.

Dewaco wants to realize 19 new housing units on the site of former knitwear factory Henri Verhulst.
Traces of the industrial past can be found almost everywhere in the Flemish villages around Brussels and Aalst. Lots of unused factory buildings were demolished without a second thought. ‘Housing Factory Hogeweg’  redevelops this example of cultural heritage into a contemporary project where old and new strengthen each other. 19 new housing units are realized within the footprint of the former factory, leaving space for a new public neighborhood garden in the center of the building block.

28 senior apartments in Ten Kouter are outdated. The brief defined the redevelopment of the 28 units. In our proposal we added family housing to the base program in order to create a mix of housing types and of future inhabitants. In the new situation the existing street becomes a square where the use by pedestrians is leading. With this mix Ten Kouter can develop into a truly pleasant residential area for both young and old.

Nieuw-Sledderlo is in redevelopment. The park in the heart of the neighborhood will form the relaxed public space of this area. The new building for Gigos will be the link between the street and the park. De corridors between the different rooms are replaced by a transparent central space, which can be inside or outside.

The Beukenlaan is positioned in the center of a quiet neighborhood. A green playground and a soccer field lie in the center of this area. Kids come here to play and the inhabitants come here to relax.  The development of the site at the Beukenlaan provides an excellent opportunity to meet the potential of the area as the meeting point of the neighborhood. By turning the new housing and addressing the playground, the relation of this place with its surroundings remains optimal. The proposed new housing is for families and seniors.

Park the ‘Hoge Rielen’ is a nature recreation domain with various pavilions to accommodate organised youth groups. In 2007 the Helix pavilion by Hans Barbier needed an update of it’s sanitary facilities.
Late 2007 Open Architects & 2DVW won this competition. Early 2011 the pavilion was delivered. We’re only waiting now for the ‘GreenGrid’ facade to be overgrown so the pavilion becomes one with nature.