The building was conceived as a "place for meeting" by brutalist architect Alfons Hoppenbrouwers (1930-2001). The task now was to challenge the very concept of a cultural centre to the digital age, reorganize the spatial arrangement according to the renewed functions, update the technical elements for modern comfort, and at the same time re-introduce colour and life as originally intended by the respected Flemish architect.

In the master plan we can distinguish three parts: technical, creative and organizational. These parts are in mutual relation with each other, so that different parts of the plan can be executed over time in a coherent way, regardless of the order.

In this set-up also small ideas are important and can find support within the framework of the bigger master plan, in order not to be left aside.

Besides, the bigger scale cannot be forgotten: integration of greenery, parking area and landscape are described as well, all with the same coherence.

The master plan that we propose is definitely not a standard architectural plan that has been made up just by architects. On the contrary, it is the result of many workshops with local experts, Dilbekenaars, users of the building, staff, municipality...

The Academie MWD sits at a uniquely varied crossroads; South: the main square; North: Wolfsputten, a protected forest; West: CC Westrand, a Brutalist community centre; and East a series of quaint suburban villas.
Image and texture dematerialise the volume: the façade seems to blend into the forest.

We carefully modulate scale and form: the jagged edge of the roof mimics those of the homes across the street, growing gradually to the cantilevered auditorium at the other end, and rising up to look face to face towards the monumental volumes of CC Westrand.

The building changes dramatically as we move along the sidewalk; walking towards the forest, we see forest; walking towards the grey Westrand we see greys, whites and blue skies.

Looking straight into the façade, we see the colours of a painting by A. Hoppenbrouwers, the architect of neighbouring Westrand.

RMdP is the first C2C (Cradle to Cradle) building in France. A regenerator of a former factory, it is an economic, cultural and environmental activator.

The MdP (House of the Project) hosts meetings, exhibitions, calls for tender, as needed to reactivate the 1.000 Ha area into the circular economy.

It is also improving soil and air conditions, eating up the chemicals left over from former industrial activity.

There were no earthworks, using driven piles that may be recovered; the structure and façades are designed for disassembly and reuse.

Materials are biodegradable or recyclable, with zero harmful chemicals

Sanitation generates nutrients, with the chimneys of three dry toilets as a main feature of the façade.

Landscaping cleans the soil; the building feeds on clean energies, with controlled solar exposure and the principle of the thermal onion.

Technology reuse is easy, the designers call it “superfurniture”: mobile equipment units to provide a specific function to any space.

A little weekend house in the heart of la Moraleja.

Lost in the highest part of a holm oak forest. It’s a treehouse. In summer, a shaggy refuge, in winter a place in the sun above the crowns of the trees.

The ground floor is developed in relation to a thick structural element to a trunk. Among the branches of our tree are hung useful spaces: from the hanged up the laundry come across a Turkish bath, a Jacuzzi that levitates in the center of the house, with a cascade of water that falls from an impossible place.

The boxes that contain the sauna, the toilet and the dressing room are suspended, like pieces of fruit. From inside, the fruit is seen with furry coats.

The trunk structure twist as it ascends to the bedroom that is supported by said trunk, like resting on the crowns of the trees. It is a glass cube from which one can look over the forested watercourse, and, in the distance, Madrid.

The construction was undertaken with different materials, as unique as the textures in the wood: stone, trunk, bark, leaves. The pixel effect of the outer layer is mixed with the shade of the trees that surrounds it.

Everything is pre-existing, recycled or, if new, mobile.

Preexisting, apart from the structure and the enclosure, we found interesting elements to preserve; the temptation would be to empty everything and start over, but many installations and even finishes could be preserved and integrated into a new concept.

Recycled, in the mature market of Brussels it is possible to find recycled materials of high quality and benefits at very competitive prices. In addition, the Institute had materials from the previous headquarters (and other centres) that can be easily incorporated.

Mobile, so that the investments in new materials of equipment can be reused in the future regardless of functional or strategic changes.

The activities allocated in this floor are visible from the street as a way to highlight its public essence. A domestic library, a coffee hall, a multifunctional space with stands or the information displayed on the monitors.

A pixelated sky ceiling that encloses all the installations machines, stablishes a direct dialogue with the language use to solve the stair that connects the hall in the second floor that gives access to the classrooms.

The ground floor is a single and continous space. There are lines of vision that cross the space from one side to the other. The light comming through the windows of a façade can be seen from the other one.

However, there are clearly separate enclosures and routes; the library has a defined and controlled access point, but when we go inside it, we find places to rest, windows, points of visual contact with the rest of the program. Inside of the library route, the most sheltered angle hosts the children’s library area. Then, at halfway a ramp rise above the grount finishing the tour on a reading room furnished as a domestic space surrounded by books, but at the same time serving as a storefront and a stage.

The central space accommodates complementary and temporary functions, framed by curtains or light furniture, which also allows to use it as a classroom for teaching activities. It is a space between classrooms, used for waiting to start a class, informal talks, to manage enrollment periods, and also for extracurricular activities.

The velvet curtains work acoustically, while giving this space a theatrical character that facilitates the role play, much needed for language learning.

The circle is coated with recycled PETT felt, which is acoustically absorbent, and allows the communication of teachers and students to be sharp and effective. The coloured felt works also as a contrasting background that allows us to gladly reuse the existing chairs in the previous headquarters

The starting point for the project is an uncompromising in-situ reciclage of the existing industrial building, including foundations, bearing structure, outer skin, waterproofing, services installations and equipment, electric power station, heating plant, water ducts, fire hoses, drainage and even parking space, fencing and accesses. This approach may be defined as upcycling.

We chose basic materials, either recycled from waste, or very light and simple materials, or plain raw materials with only basic production procedures. We then give them a twist, applying our “joyful recycling” principle.

The floor is the existing concrete surface, lightly polished. The marks and lines that were used for the placement of coca-cola pallets remain in their place, adding depth and life to the large surface.
On the outside, it is a non-building. We cover the red panelling of the former coca-cola offices with a printed vegetation screen, to optimise solar exposure in winter and summer, but also signifying the change towards a friendly attitude and a caring management of the environment

An energy producing park, built with recycled materials. Park activities, cycle and pedestrian lanes coexist in harmony with yards for storage and the management of construction material.

The park around the building is also built with a very controlled budget, and its features are productive systems, rather than an expense.

The city's road work department material storage integrates with pedestrian and cycling routes. It is part of a European Interreg MP4 project: Making Places Profitable.

Water harvesting in two steps: the roof provides clean water for all the toilets, the workshops, and the vehicle cleaning point.

The brief required flexible workspace for a creative agency, mutable into an events area, turning into a school of design for certain months in the year, or a place to have fun - with a very limited budget. We needed a simple and light way to transform spatial arrangements.

The agency uses honeycomb cardboard panels made from recycled paper for their presentations. We decided to use them as mobile walls, covered with a felt made from recycled plastic bottles (PET), which is sound absorbing, light, inexpensive, and good for pinning presentations on. Other panels are lined with magnetic blackboard, whiteboard, void calendars, or printed with the presentations themselves.

Two sets of rails define the potential spaces. The bottom rail is the duct for all the service cables, and the back of each panel is attached to it with a magnet. The panel is actually hanging from the top rail, which is painted in a stark colour.

We propose a large ground floor, with three smaller specialized “houses” on top, linked by a roof garden.

There are three discreet “houses” on this elevated hedge landscape. The size of each of the volumes is equivalent to any of the neighboring houses. This minimizes the visual impact of the relatively large programme. A gate leads up the garden path to the houses directly from the street.

El proyecto reformula la relación de las habitaciones con el pasillo en una suerte de alcoba castellana traslucida. Estos dormitorios, compartimentados mediante grandes cristaleras, permiten abrirse generando un espacio continuo con el pasillo o bien cerrarse creando privacidad al desplegar cortinas opacas.

Un suelo de microcemento acentúa esta relación de continuidad de espacios que nos van conduciendo al ala “pública de la casa”. Un salón comedor conectado con la cocina con dos grandes balcones que permiten la entrada de luz.