Royale Brialmont, Brussels Housing, Belgian Office Building, Architecture, Architect, Design

Royale-Brialmont Brussels : Office Building Belgium

Belgian Architectural Development – design by sca Architectes Associés

4 Apr 2012

Royale-Brialmont Brussels

Design: sca Architectes Associés sprl

Offices Building + Housing

Royale-Brialmont

Brussels is characterised by, among other things, a series of “royal boulevards” which criss-cross the city creating a somewhat discrepant urban grid within which this project inserts itself. The Botanical Gardens it overlooks, however, constitutes a rare and welcome oasis situated at the intersection of two of these boulevards : the rue Royale and the boulevard Léopold III connecting the Basilique to the city centre.

photographs : Marc Detiffe

This strategic position explains the careful proportioning of the buildingʼs masses, from the more compact housing (1800 m²) on the sunny but busy rue Royale, to the slender office block (6300 m²) on the narrow side street. The neighbouring P & V tower has banned almost all direct sunlight from this street which explains why city authorities and Brussels Heritage accepted offices on what was normally an all-housing site.

Transparency and criss-crossing views from the ground level up to the skyline, and indifferently for the apartments and offices, have been favoured in order to knit the ensemble into its site: all street entrances (pedestrian or vehicular) offer views onto the inner courtyards…insides extend outwards through the use of cantilevered porches, see-through reception areas, exterior gangways and staircases. To add to this effect, identical finishes for façades and interiors were chosen, and this for both functions. From the onset, the goal was to create an articulated whole for living and working (coherence during composition prevailed).

Simple repetitive structural grids and uncluttered ceilings (allowing an easily partitioned modular space) are meant to highlight the panorama the site offers, as do the terraces. Dwelling types are varied, simple or double-height; the office floor-plates make both open or partitioned spaces possible, for single tenant or multiple letting.

The extensive use of floor-to-ceiling glass elements, galvanised steel, and especially black heavy-duty tread-plate industrial cladding for the façades (although it initially seemed quite aggressive), give the project a shimmering and transparent quality (dynamic character), fluctuating with the varying light as one walks or drives by.

photographs : Marc Detiffe

Royale-Brialmont Brussels – Building Information

Architect: sca Architectes Associés sprl
m. desmedt – m. lacour – s. leribaux – d. van Cauwenberghe
Description: Group of 17 housing units and 6 000m2 of offices
Date: 1997-2005
Site: Rue Royale 157-159, Rue Brialmont 1-3-5 1210 Brussels – Belgium
Client: CFE Immo sa

Collaborating:
Structural engineer: Ellyps
Service engineer: Solitech
Contractor: CFE Brabant
Total surface: 6 280 m2 offices, 1 844 m2 housing, 2 grounds floors
Budget: 10 000 000€

Royale-Brialmont Brussels images / information from sca Architectes Associés sprl

Location: Rue Royale 157-159, Rue Brialmont 1-3-5, 1210 Brussels