The history of the Armand Swartenbroeks nursery and primary school building (completed in 1903) is closely linked to that of Espace Cadol. In the 1990s, the local authority took over the wing of the building that once housed the school’s village hall and turned it into the Espace Cadol, a communal cultural venue, thus putting an end to its use as a school building. This transformation has created a local performance venue. The projects to develop and renovate the school playground and the cultural space are separate, but they will have to be developed in a coherent and high-quality way to allow the two spaces to be used harmoniously and for a range of purposes.

This ambitious project has several objectives. The renovation of the Espace Cadol aims to improve its architectural setting, transforming this socio-cultural facility into a fully fledged cultural centre capable of accommodating a wider range of activities, in particular by integrating independent spaces. The entire playground needs to be redeveloped to create a friendly, stimulating, green and safe outdoor environment for pupils and staff. In addition, the courtyard will have to be designed so that it can be used as an outdoor space for cultural events taking place in the Espace Cadol.

The municipality of Koekelberg is looking for a multidisciplinary team (architecture, landscape design, stability engineering and special techniques, building energy efficiency consultancy, acoustics, scenography and disabled accessibility) for the full assignment of the renovation and redevelopment of these interior and exterior spaces.

This contract falls within the scope of urban regeneration policies, in particular the Urban Policy, the Jacquet Sustainable Neighbourhood Contract (2022–2028) and the European Regional Development Fund (2021–2027): Call for projects – “Community facilities for Urban Renewal Contracts”.