BOB361 Architects, 2020

The interior of this city block in Forest has been completely reconfigured to open it up to the neighbourhood. Rather than creating a complex accessible only to residents, the architects have designed a public walkway through the block, which is open to soft mobility. At each end, two new squares link up with the existing roads: Place Max Waller, the main entrance marked by a building, and Place des Huileries, whose shape is defined by a new L-shaped kindergarten, a kind of central landmark for the site.

Between these squares are three different green spaces. Strewn with wildflowers, the ecological garden is a public space with a water feature interspersed with rocks. The tree-lined esplanade is a passageway accessible to pedestrians and cyclists wanting to reach Rue de l'Eau. Lastly, behind the individual houses, the vegetable gardens form a semi-public space that encourages residents to get together.

The four new buildings were designed with their immediate environment in mind: they were attached to existing party walls and their height was adapted to that of their neighbours. They are passive and also optimally south- or west-facing.

→ Find out more about this project nominated for the Brussels Architecture Prize
If you loved the project you visited, why not vote for it in the People's Choice Award? Voting is open until 5 December and the winner will be announced on 12 December: https://brusselsarchitectureprize.be/en/vote/