Tag: brussels | ArchDaily

MVRDV Obtains Construction Permit for Low-Carbon Mixed-Use Tour & Taxis Towers in Brussels

Antonia Piñeiro — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 05:30:00 +0000

Rotterdam-based firm MVRDV has announced a new milestone in the development of its Tour & Taxis Towers, a mixed-use project in Brussels, Belgium. The design was commissioned by real estate investor and developer Nextensa in 2021, within the framework of a site-specific land use masterplan also designed by MVRDV. The two-tower project combines offices, housing, and public amenities across 58,000 m², forming a landmark in the neighbourhood and reaching 126 metres at its highest point. Recently granted construction permission, the project is designed to reduce embodied carbon through the use of a hybrid structure and lightweight façade elements, aiming to minimize the use of concrete in both the structure and foundations. From the early stages, the firm has employed its CarbonSpace software to guide these decisions.

C MIL Building Renovation / CASTOR FIBER architecture studio

Andreas Luco — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:00:00 +0000

Zone-foreign military building becomes a pleasant place to live and work. Even before the client decided to compete in the public sale of a military domain, he involved architect Maarten Dekoninck in his plans. He gave a positive recommendation and later transformed the brutalist building, characterized by concrete and steel windows, into a residential house with an office function. The very attractive location, at the highest point of the green belt around Brussels, was certainly an important asset. The plot offers a beautiful view of Brussels 20 kilometers away and you can also enjoy spectacular views in the other directions. To create is to delete.

How Amsterdam Uses the Doughnut Economics Model to Create a Balanced Strategy for Both the People and the Environment

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In 2020, in the midst of the first wave of lockdowns due to the pandemic, the municipality of Amsterdam announced its strategy for recovering from this crisis by embracing the concept of the “Doughnut Economy.” The model is developed by British economist Kate Raworth and popularized through her book, “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist”, released in 2017. Here, she argues that the true purpose of economics does not have to equal growth. Instead, the aim is to find a sweet spot, a way to balance the need to provide everyone with what they need to live a good life, a “social foundation” while limiting our impact on the environment, “the environmental ceiling.” With the help of Raworth, Amsterdam has downscaled this approach to the size of a city. The model is now used to inform city-wide strategies and developments in support of this overarching idea: providing a good quality of life for all without putting additional pressure on the planet. Other cities are following this example.

Greenpeace Belgium HQ / archipelago

Valeria Silva — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The new Greenpeace Belgium HQ is located in a dense building block in the city center of Brussels. The existing structures used to belong to an old organ atelier, called Manufacture d'Orgues de Bruxelles. To uncover the qualities of the factory building, a process of 'matchmaking' resulted in an innovative approach towards the programming of the new offices: the existing structures, as well as the interior and surrounding climates, were analyzed and matched with specific activities from the Greenpeace team (from formal meetings to wall climbing), resulting in a low-tech project and a high-quality work environment.

Buda Recypark Industrial Center / A229 + evr-Architecten

Pilar Caballero — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 11:00:00 +0000

The new logistics site of the Agence Bruxelles Propreté/ Agentschap Net Brussel located along the Brussels Canal near the Buda Bridge, embodies a harmonious fusion of functionality, sustainability, and aesthetics. This project revitalizes an underutilized area into a modern logistics hub while perfectly integrating with its urban environment.

Belgian Pavilion Showcases Water's Essential Role in Shaping Humanity at Expo 2025 Osaka

Nour Fakharany — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 05:30:00 +0000

The Belgian Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka, designed by the winning consortium of Carré 7, Beyond Limits, One Designs, Pirnay, and Poly-Tech, embraces the Expo's overarching theme, "Designing the Society of the Future, Imagining Our Life of Tomorrow." With a focus on "Saving Lives," the pavilion' explores the universal significance of water and its vital role in creating and sustaining life. By highlighting water's interconnectedness with all living beings through the metaphor of cells, the pavilion aims to reflect humanity's relationship with the environment and the importance of preserving it for future generations.

Art Room / OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen

Pilar Caballero — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 17:00:00 +0000

This single large room is dedicated to one function, to enjoy a private collection of art. Inserted in a steep slope of a garden of a villa in Brussels, the room connects the two different levels on each side of the building. On the higher level, the sliding door opens to a steel platform and a spiral stair that takes you down from the street level to the lower garden level. On the other side, a large window gives way to a roofed terrace overlooking the garden.

Tondo Bridge / OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen

Valeria Silva — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 10:00:00 +0000

‘Tondo’ is a footbridge that connects two buildings of the Belgian Federal Parliament in the center of Brussels. The bridge was explicitly designed as a spatial element, rather than a technical solution. Named after the tradition of the ‘Tondo’, a circular Renaissance painting, the bridge is shaped like a ring, and suspended between the two buildings.

Navigating 2024: European Cities Tackle Urban Cooling, Congestion, and Connection

Nour Fakharany — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 05:30:00 +0000

As we reach mid-2024, European cities showcase various urban development markers that are shaping the trajectory for the remainder of the year. Under themes of urban mobility in Brussels, sustainability in Valencia, Smart Cities in Rotterdam, and urban cooling in Paris, each city is making noteworthy progress on the road to meet the 2030 targets set by the Paris Agreement. In these diverse urban fabrics, European cities are committed to defining challenges and working towards shaping a climate-conscious future.

City Dox 7 Building / B-architecten

Hadir Al Koshta — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 03:00:00 +0000

City Dox 7.1 / 7.2 is a mixed-use building that strongly defines the public identity of the City Dox development on the Canal Zone in Brussels, one of the most important urban renewal operations in the capital.

1902_loft / POESENVANHIEL architects

Andreas Luco — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000

We were put to the task of finding a way to create a sensible partition between day and night. To this end, we placed a glass curtain wall with sliding door panels following the course of the existing steel columns, with an offset of a typical corridor. As a result, the resident who moves around in the middle of the loft no longer has to crisscross all over the place.

Children's Campus Theodoor / cuypers & Q architecten

Paula Pintos — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Children's campus Theodoor, on the Brussels Health Campus of the ‘Vrije Universiteit Brussel’ in Jette, has just been officially inaugurated. Children are truly kings and queens on the campus because, in addition to a nursery and primary school, the complex also houses a daycare center, scouts and offices + spaces for ‘Huis van het Kind’, ‘Kind & Gezin’, and ‘CAW’. cuypers & Q architects have created a lively campus that enhances children's experience of nature and is open to the neighborhood. The campus also vouches to witness a far-reaching sustainability approach. OMGEVING (landscaping), Cenergie (technical engineering), Util (structural engineering), and Daidalos-Peutz (acoustics) were also part of the design team. Contractor Houben took care of the construction of the building.

Werfstraat Passive House / Bovenbouw

Andreas Luco — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 02:00:00 +0000

The passive house gives high-quality urban living a place in a hidden corner of Brussels’ city center. On a very shallow plot between high apartment buildings, the house offers an exciting living solution. The building typology blends a building with an industrial character and a mansion, both building types characteristic of the neighborhood.

MVRDV Transorms the Tour & Taxis District in Brussels with Qualitative Masterplan

Nour Fakharany — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 05:30:00 +0000

Seven architecture studios, including MVRDV, have designed separate buildings in the long-anticipated master plan for the Lake Side development in Brussels. To introduce diversity, the master plan has been designed by MVRDV and aims to bring about a denser and more vibrant life on the Tour & Taxis side, offering various amenities for its residents. The newly designed site also includes different workspaces and a nine-hectare park that promotes a more car-free communal environment. The project’s entirety is supervised by MVRDV, who also designs one of the 17 buildings within the new master plan.

From Art Nouveau to the Bauhaus: How Home Interiors Looked in Popular Art Movements

Paul Yakubu — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 07:30:00 +0000

Art has always been a means for people to connect with space, and art movements have served as a platform for exploring new relationships with architecture. By incorporating art into buildings and interior spaces, they have been transformed, resulting in a fusion that creates beautiful, inspiring, and spiritually uplifting environments. Throughout history, various art movements, such as the Renaissance in the 17th century, Baroque in the 18th century, and Art Nouveau, Art Déco, and Bauhaus in the early 20th century, have had a significant impact on architecture. Architects drew inspiration from the ideals, concepts, stylistic approaches, and techniques of these movements, using them to create large-scale habitable structures. As the home is a fundamental expression of an architectural movement and the simplest canvas to exhibit the artistic ethos of any particular era, studying the interior spaces of houses provides a detailed picture of art's influence on spatial organization, furniture design, product patterns, and user interaction.

Medical Center Bles / OFFICEU architects

Andreas Luco — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 10:00:00 +0000

The old horse stables of the former ‘Hollandia’ dairy factory in Laken (Brussels) are being transformed into a medical neighborhood hub, containing a general doctors’ practice, a zone for paramedical practices, a polyvalent space, and a multifunctional circulation space. Currently, the first phase of the work has been executed.

BERK House Transformation / Bauclub

Pilar Caballero — Sun, 30 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

As a young office based in Brussels, Bauclub is regularly required to study the ordinary local typology and therefore reflect on how to position itself in relation to its identified constraints and opportunities.

9 Social Housing Units / Atelier Tom Vanhee

Pilar Caballero — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Inspired by the applied brickwork and volumes used in the street, nine user-owned townhouses are being built in the street. By removing a few cobblestones from the pavement, neighbors made small artificial gardens in the street.