The client, Whitewood Capital, intends to transform the Albert Borschette Conference Centre, located in the heart of the European Quarter near Leopold Park and Place Jourdan, into an exemplary mixed-use project.

The building was constructed between 1979 and 1982 and has been recently listed in the architectural heritage inventory. It has a strong brutalist identity. It currently forms a massive and introverted complex, poorly connected to its surroundings. The project aims to undertake a profound and qualitative transformation, preserving the building’s essential architectural characteristics while adapting it to contemporary uses.

The ambition is to develop a mixed-use programme composed of offices, housing and retail and facilities, in line with the project guidelines of the Cityforward portfolio, which seeks to enhance functional diversity and quality of life in the European Quarter. Particular attention will be paid to activating the ground floors, creating new interactions with the public realm, and improving site permeability, notably through the study of a passage connecting Rue Froissart and Chaussée d’Etterbeek.

The project must demonstrate that it can integrate meaningfully into its urban context, by strengthening its relationship with the neighbourhood and by activating the ground floor, while valorising its brutalist character as its starting point for the project. Equal importance will be given to the quality of use, comfort and inclusivity of the proposed spaces, for both offices and housing. Finally, the project will incorporate an ambitious environmental approach and propose realistic solutions that are technically and economically viable.

Whitewood is seeking an architect for a design assignment. The designer will collaborate with an executive architect (Jaspers-Eyers) and engineers already appointed by the client.