COURONNE

janvier, 2024

COURONNE

A new cultural center for Ixelles

Description: renovation and transformation of an old villa into a socio-cultural facility in Ixelles

Partners of collaboration: TAKTYK Landscape Urbanism – ND Stabilité – DÉTANG Engineering – ASM Acoustics
Type of project: Cultural
Type of customer: Public
Department: Transformation and renovation
Location: Ixelles, Brussels (BE)
Year: 2023

The proposal for the contest consists in a punctual transformation of the existing. The site of 40 avenue de la Couronne is an incredible site with impressive architectural and landscape qualities.

Originally, the existing house had been conceived as a generous private house. The contest offers to transform it into a cultural center which generates various technical adaptations. (fire security, structural adjustments, etc.)

The project’s mission is to visualize and value the existing qualities, to create a path through the topography of the site, to secure the different accesses and to transform the villa in a friendly and welcoming place for the users of the future cultural center.

The interventions are mainly limited to the essential, through a detailed analysis of existing spaces and based on an inventory of materials. The renovation follows an acupuncture approach: restoring a wall to consolidate, open spaces to gather volumes or create an opening to bring light and garden views into the heart of the center. All within the respect of the heritage value and the material life cycle.

The major architectural intervention is situated outside the building, huge terraces are creating several stunning views above the district. The proposed structure is transforming itself into an architectural ribbon creating new links.

The morphology of the site creates a huge gab in the neighborhood. The idea of the landscape design turns around the approach of creating a gateway between the popular district of rue Gray and the upscale district of avenue de la Couronne. A delicate suspended structure develops itself along the existing topography and above the vegetation of the wooded hillside. An architectural promenade invites the users to discover several outdoor spaces along the walkway. A green theater, vegetable gardens and various spaces designed with a scenography approach are hosting various activities of the cultural center.

BIP

août, 2017

BIP

Description: renovation and transformation of the reception area of the BIP building

Partner of collaboration: Jean Paul Hermant Architects
Type of project: Cultural
Type of customer: Public
Department: Transformation and renovation
Location: Brussels (BE)
Year: 2000

BIP is located in a highly symbolic area of Brussels. The site features a superimposition of historical layers; one of the most impressive is the underground path from the Palais du Coudenberg to the Place Royale, which crosses numerous medieval remains.

The project consists mainly of reconfiguring the BIP’s reception area.

The architectural intervention highlights the historical traces and gives the visitors the opportunity to experience a little less than a thousand years of our city’s history by directing the flow of visitors.

The new entrance gives all visitors, including groups and PRMs, access to the three different museums.

(Coudenberg, Brussels. Experience and the Cat Museum).

The new reception area involves lowering the existing floor slab by +/- 1.4 m. The idea is to provide level even access from the sidewalk of the Place Royale. Through a thermal sluice, visitors are directed to a large reception desk, which manages and organizes the various flows to the museums.

Multiples visual links are created throughout the building by creating a large atrium behind the counter.

A new opening in the slab creates visual links to the early Coudenberg excavations. The different historical layers can be read on the walls. A staircase is built through this opening, and after several stair landings, it joins the steps of the old staircase linking Rue Isabelle and the inner courtyard of the former palace. The design of this new staircase is based on a floating aesthetic thanks to a system of hangers, ensuring that the existing remains untouched.

Around the main entrance area, the existing floor levels are maintained, and various staircases and elevators ensure easy access to the various spaces and floors where, among the new circulation areas and sanitary facilities, a generous bar-cafeteria is created.