The project is located in the district of
Molenbeek-Saint-Jean in Brussels. It is
part of the urban renewal strategy of
the city and holds a strategic position,
facing the town hall, at the corner of two
axis, one of them has been dedicated to
enhance soft mobility.
a real urban articulation opening the
view towards the town hall. The facade of
the building is slightly folded to broaden
the perspective from the Brunfaut street,
and connect the public space to the main
axis without generating a „backside“. A
new facade is so designed facing the
prospect of the town hall. The existing
road widening is thus transformed
into a real space in continuity with the
town square, stretching it between two
landmark buildings.
Archetech - Page 86
A careful attention is given to to
integration of the project into its context.
The building proposed is compact,
attractive, yet sober. The design of the
ground floor is a search to amplify the
continuities within the public space,
while for the upper floors, the specificities
of the program have motivated large
openings cut into the main volume. They
respond to the scale of the apartments,
offering outdoor spaces and structuring
the organization of the rooms and spaces
for each of them. At the urban scale, they
give the project its expressiveness.
The building is dressed with a skin made
of a folded and perforated sheet of metal,
interrupted only to reveal the large
and bright yellow openings cut for the
terraces. The sheet is folded following
a variable rythm, the perforations are
random. A dynamic effect, a vibration
of the facade is so realised in order to
accompany the urban articulation and
underline the role of the project as urban
signal.
www.b612associates.net