OFFICE 216

OFFICE, in collaboration with Nicolas Firket Architects and Bureau Bas Smets, won this competition for the redevelopment of the ‘Havenlaan 12’ site at the Brussels Canal area, by developer Triple Living. The competition was organised by Brussels Bouwmeester, who together with the Molenbeek commune, the Brussels regional authorities and the client, chose the project out of an original longlist of 30 teams, and 3 final proposals. The site, which sits next to Tour&Taxis and faces the future ‘Beco park’ along the canal, is currently occupied by an office building. It will be replaced by a family of three small towers and a lineair housing block, organised around a central semi-public garden. The volumes, who share a similar character and finishing in coloured concrete paneling, will together form a permeable, urban ensemble with a strong identity, which can be seen as a blueprint for future developments. The existing underground parking will be used as the foundation for the new development. The 28 000 m² of planned floor surface will contain a mix of housing, assisted living, a hotel and various commercial spaces. The various types of housing (row houses, apartments and studios) will be complemented with private outside spaces, from gardens at the ground level until terraces, loggia’s and winter garden in the upper levels.