HYBRID
International project
Le Toison d’Or
Designed for ProWinko and in collaboration with Belgian
architects Jaspers-Eyers, Le Toison d’Or from UNStudio is a
hybridisation of a traditional building-block typology and a
mixed-use development with a retail podium.
L
ocated on the Avenue de la Toison d’Or between two
historical gates (the Porte Louise and the Port de Namur),
the mixed-use complex integrates into the urban fabric of
its surroundings, whilst simultaneously merging a retail
and residential programme.
Le Toison d’Or contains 72 apartments (from 50 to 750m2),
13 000m2 of commercial space, a 1 040m2 crèche, 330
parking spaces and an elevated city garden of 2 950m2.
In order to avoid the monolithic qualities common to
block structures, the façade of Le Toison d’Or is broken up by means
of variations in texture, depth and the repeating rhythm of a series of
curved vertical frames. These frames serve to enclose the balconies of
the apartments on the upper floors, whilst also facilitating the large
display windows of the retail units.
Architect Ben van Berkel says: “It was important that the retail units
be as open and light and possible. We wanted to contrast this with
the apparent solidity of the upper floors, to create the illusion that the
vertical balloon-like frames were carrying the building; as if the whole
block almost has the potential float above the avenue.”
Ben van Berkel: “In architecture we tend to favour abstraction and to
avoid figuration. But on the street facade of the Toison d’Or building we
wanted to investigate the space between the abstract and the figurative,
to create moments of tacit allusion to the pictorial.”
In contrast to the vertical articulation of the street façade, the façades
surrounding the elevated courtyard garden follow a horizontal
arrangement. Here generously proportioned balconies provide a
more tranquil experience of city life. To access the apartments visitors
and residents enter the building from the street side, where a large
sculptural staircase leads them up to the main reception lobby, which is
located towards the rear and elevated above the two retail levels. From
here they can continue to further lobby areas furnished with informal
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