42 SOCIAL HOUSING UNITS WITH COLLECTIVE AMENITIES, PUBLIC POLYVALENT SPACE, FLEXIBLE UNDERGROUND PARKING AND LANDSCAPING | OPEN COMPETITION ORGANISED BY THE CLIENT, 2ND PLACE
Evenepoel. A dike protecting the city from a former shooting range gives shape to a site with a pronounced topography. The level differences were materialised in the 1970s by retaining walls and dead end paths, which results in a fragmented parcel today.
Now imagine a world under a green rolling blanket. A collective world that receives light and air through incisions in the landscape, like ‘eyes’ towards the world. The blanket creates a smooth connection between the different buildings on site, and between the street and the adjacent Mediapark to come. Its main purpose is to stitch the existing and new buildings together, in an inclusive way. Then, on top of that blanket, imagine many private worlds in a new mid-rise housing building, which completes and valorises the residential complex from the 1970s. This new building – the 5th element of the ensemble – matches the existing buildings in terms of implantation, typology and materiality. It houses a variety of dwellings, each of them with a double orientation and a generous loggia as outside space.
The pandemic has shown us that now, more than ever, everyone has a right to quality living in a society where the physical, social and cultural landscape forms a fertile ground for an inclusive society. That is why we approach this project as a whole of 5 buildings on top of a collective landscape. “Evenepoel Renaissance” was the perfect opportunity to confirm our social mission.