Metamorphoses: transforming an industrial icon into vibrant social housing and enlarging towers

On February 22, a group of social and affordable housing providers, cities, SMEs, and fellow housing experts witnessed firsthand the ambitious initiatives of the Société du Logement de la Région de Bruxelles-capital (SLRB) – a member of Housing Europe – which is converting a longstanding industrial building in Brussels into 63 modern, energy-efficient social housing apartments and adding 5 stories further up to a tower to accommodate housing needs. This was the last out of 4 excursions organised by the European Affordable Housing Consortium that made a best practice seem realistic and inspiring to peers.

Offices and versatile community space on the ground floor with 63 social housing flats on top

Previously renovated in the late ’90s and early 2000s, the Luttre building in the Forest neighbourhood had remained vacant but occasionally hosted events to ward off squatting. Now, the transformative project is set to be completed by the end of 2025, marking a significant milestone in the sustainable revival of this architectural landmark. Managed by SLRB and Le Foyer du Sud, the venture comes with a price tag of EUR22.5 million, breathing new life into a once-dormant industrial architecture.

Preserving the building’s history, the Matador/CLN team of architects and engineers has adopted a philosophy of minimal demolition and maximum circularity, opting to capitalise on the existing features. The result will be a housing complex that pays homage to the building’s industrial roots, offering residents affordable apartments with 1 to 6 bedrooms, each with access to a winter garden and a loggia which is a structure similar to a porch, but with columns or arches on the open side.

The Brunfaut Tower

Our group headed to the Molenbeek neighbourhood in the Belgian capital where an existing steel tower of 1969 has increased its original volume by offsetting the main facades and adding several new levels. The existing 16-storey social housing tower rose to 21 storeys with a new height of 64 m. Since then, the surface area has almost doubled: going from 6,500 m² to more than 10,000 m².

The project was a be.exemplary winner in 2016 because it offers a complete and qualitative urban response: densification, treatment of the skyline, re-establishment of the tower as an urban signal, and requalification of public spaces. The architectural concept is distinguished by the quality of the housing, the diversity of typologies, and the organisation of community spaces. 

To retain the existing structure and foundations, the new floors incorporate a truss structure which creates a bridge over the existing tower transferring the additional loads to vertical elements in the new facade. To minimise intervention on the existing structure and with a limited existing ceiling height, the existing steel deck floor has been replaced by CLT panels, a light, and compact solution.

The Brunfaut Tower has been designed to accommodate people with reduced mobility with the open ground floor, the dimensions of the elevators, etc. All of the housing has a 1m-wide passage and is therefore accessible to people with disabilities. Today, 5% of the building space is classified as adapted housing, 20% as adaptable housing, and 75% as accessible housing.

The European Affordable Housing Consortium (SHAPE-EU) is the point of reference for a socially-inclusive Renovation Wave. Its mission is to support affordable housing providers, public authorities, and SMEs to deliver renovations that go the extra mile in terms of technological innovation, people-centred models, or experimental engagement practices with residents. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Single Market Programme under Grant Agreement no. 101069909