Rive Gauche - Charbonnages 1

In the 1970s the construction of the Brussels metro required the destruction of part of Molenbeek Saint Jean: a 600m ship stretching from the Canal to Wauters-Koeckx square was demolished.

A complete reconstruction of the demolished urban fabric was designed in order to remove this 'scar'.

In terms of program, the project is structured by a horizontal mix of constructions.

The lower levels are given over to workshops and small businesses, the middle levels to offices, and the upper floors to housing.

The straddling of the metro tunnel called for imaginative engineering solutions.