Construction team: Karbon', Architectures Parallèles and Label architecture (architects), Comensia (Project owner)
Implementation: in progress

Designed by architect Victor Bourgeois and built in the 1920s, Cité Moderne/Moderne Wijk is a social housing estate comprising 274 homes. Over the years, the listed dwellings have gradually become dilapidated and are now in urgent need of renovation. The renovation process started with the first building delivered this year, with further work to be carried out in phases over the next eight years. This project, initiated by the tenants' cooperative Comensia, is a successful example of renovation of a protected heritage and shows that the principles of circularity are also applicable to social housing.

The housing of the Cité Moderne/Moderne Wijk is distinguished by the use of concrete fly ash, a lean concrete composed of ashes, cement and slag from steel industries. This fact, together with some exemptions from insulation requirements, allowed the architects to incorporate bio-based insulation. The use of hemp-lime, combined with a natural plaster finish, will allow for a thorough renovation of the entire city while preserving its heritage character.