1407_ECAM
requalification of the ex-ECAM site: school, sports complex, office space, kindergarten, park
- Location :
- Saint-Gilles, Brussels
- Client :
- Commune of Saint-Gilles, Brussels
- Cost :
- 12.500.000,00 EUR excl VAT
- Surface :
- 11271 m2
- Team :
- AgwA
- Subcontractors :
- JZH & Partners, Enesta, Denis Dujardin
- Planning :
- 2014
- Category :
- Completed
“In 1993, the concept of the ‘neighbourhood contract’ was launched by the city of Brussels. Following postwar decades defined by industrial decay, the impoverishment of residential quarters, and bulldozer operations that made way for new oversized and profitable office buildings in the city centre, the Brussels government – with the French‑speaking Parti Socialiste traditionally as its largest faction – set out its objectives for a different policy. Three principles were developed to improve neighbourhoods: building or renovating houses, the revaluation of public spaces (including the inner areas of urban blocks), and actions aimed at promoting social cohesion, such as founding associations or organising events. (…)
The heart of the Bosnia neighbourhood development is the site of a former school, the École Centrale des Arts et Métiers (ECAM), chosen and purchased by the municipality. A quadrant bounded by terraced houses, it consists of a set of diverse educational buildings realised between the 1920s and the end of the 20th century. A competition was organised by the municipality in 2015 with a brief to create a public park and a school, a kindergarten and sport halls on the site. (…)
One of the reasons that AgwA’s project was selected was that it did not shy away from demolishing three small and largely dilapidated buildings to free up space and clear the inner areas of the urban block. A narrow terraced house on the north side of the plot was removed, and replaced by a structure of concrete ribbons that ensures the stability of the adjacent buildings. Here, across two floors connected by a steel spiral staircase, and on a small terrace, temporary activities and meetings can take place, while the structural elements create a new and recognisable glass facade towards the street. The opening in the row of houses now functions as an entrance gate, mirrored on the south edge by a passage under one of the existing school buildings. A wide path between these two access points leads through the site, creating a visual axis.
Though this intervention appears modest and straightforward, it summarises the approach taken by AgwA: theirs is an architecture of supports – of structural elements such as beams, girders, columns and trusses that create spaces without drawing attention to themselves. In the case of this neighbourhood in Brussels, the architecture functions like the small balloons that are inserted into an artery, so that – once inside and inflated – they can widen the valve. (…)
At the centre of the site is the large three‑floor former school building from the 1950s, which has been converted into a huge kindergarten. AgwA has added an extension to this building, also at three storeys, for service areas and offices; composed of bright horizontal strips, it faces the interior courtyard and its playground. Between this extension and another existing volume that used to be part of the former school, a roof has been suspended, covering a large sports hall for basket‑ and volleyball. For budgetary reasons, the space is unheated, the architects explain. White steel perforated mesh along the upper walls creates a special, muted atmosphere inside, while below, wire‑mesh panels can swing open like doors. Inside the abutting existing building, there are more sports facilities, for activities such as karate and gymnastics. Yet another sports hall is used by a municipal school, located at the western side of the block: different parties are allowed to benefit from this ‘neighbourhood contract’.
The building on the block’s south side, running along the street, is the oldest in the complex and has remained virtually unchanged, apart from – again – a few structural interventions, which have opened up an underpass leading from the playground to the street. Inside, a large industrial kitchen has been installed – here, meals will be cooked for all the schools and crèches in the district. In the rest of the building, there are meeting rooms, kitchens and bars for local associations and youth clubs.”
Extract from : Christophe Van Gerrewey, “Sporting chance: ECAM Youth Centre in Brussels, Belgium by AgwA”, in Architectural Review, 01/07/2024
The heart of the Bosnia neighbourhood development is the site of a former school, the École Centrale des Arts et Métiers (ECAM), chosen and purchased by the municipality. A quadrant bounded by terraced houses, it consists of a set of diverse educational buildings realised between the 1920s and the end of the 20th century. A competition was organised by the municipality in 2015 with a brief to create a public park and a school, a kindergarten and sport halls on the site. (…)
One of the reasons that AgwA’s project was selected was that it did not shy away from demolishing three small and largely dilapidated buildings to free up space and clear the inner areas of the urban block. A narrow terraced house on the north side of the plot was removed, and replaced by a structure of concrete ribbons that ensures the stability of the adjacent buildings. Here, across two floors connected by a steel spiral staircase, and on a small terrace, temporary activities and meetings can take place, while the structural elements create a new and recognisable glass facade towards the street. The opening in the row of houses now functions as an entrance gate, mirrored on the south edge by a passage under one of the existing school buildings. A wide path between these two access points leads through the site, creating a visual axis.
Though this intervention appears modest and straightforward, it summarises the approach taken by AgwA: theirs is an architecture of supports – of structural elements such as beams, girders, columns and trusses that create spaces without drawing attention to themselves. In the case of this neighbourhood in Brussels, the architecture functions like the small balloons that are inserted into an artery, so that – once inside and inflated – they can widen the valve. (…)
At the centre of the site is the large three‑floor former school building from the 1950s, which has been converted into a huge kindergarten. AgwA has added an extension to this building, also at three storeys, for service areas and offices; composed of bright horizontal strips, it faces the interior courtyard and its playground. Between this extension and another existing volume that used to be part of the former school, a roof has been suspended, covering a large sports hall for basket‑ and volleyball. For budgetary reasons, the space is unheated, the architects explain. White steel perforated mesh along the upper walls creates a special, muted atmosphere inside, while below, wire‑mesh panels can swing open like doors. Inside the abutting existing building, there are more sports facilities, for activities such as karate and gymnastics. Yet another sports hall is used by a municipal school, located at the western side of the block: different parties are allowed to benefit from this ‘neighbourhood contract’.
The building on the block’s south side, running along the street, is the oldest in the complex and has remained virtually unchanged, apart from – again – a few structural interventions, which have opened up an underpass leading from the playground to the street. Inside, a large industrial kitchen has been installed – here, meals will be cooked for all the schools and crèches in the district. In the rest of the building, there are meeting rooms, kitchens and bars for local associations and youth clubs.”
Extract from : Christophe Van Gerrewey, “Sporting chance: ECAM Youth Centre in Brussels, Belgium by AgwA”, in Architectural Review, 01/07/2024
