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High-rise vision note Brussels
2011 — 2012

High-rise vision note Brussels

Pilot study on high-rise in Brussels

In view of the expected population growth in the Brussels region, high-rise buildings have once again gained in importance. But despite this renewed popularity, there is no spatial vision whatsoever with regard to it. BUUR has been assigned to carry out a study analyzing the locations and the integration of high-rise buildings in Brussels.

The assessment aims the elaboration of a vision in which multi-storey blocks are not only used as a densification tool but also as a valuation and optimization tool of town planning. A certain number of objectives have been defined on the basis of the specific features of the Brussels’ urban fabric. They concern the three following domains: landscape, urban morphology and urban programming. The first domain analyzes how high-rise buildings are able to enhance the readability of the topography; the second domain analyzes how the high-rise buildings are able to clarify the urban structure and transform certain fabrics; the third domain considers how high-rise buildings can be used to distinguish collective from symbolic functions.

On the basis of these objectives, the study will first of all determine the basic localisation and integration criteria that every high-rise building project in Brussels has to meet, according to the landscape and program context and the existing fabrics. Next, these criteria will be used to elaborate a vision for the Brussels’ skyline. The analysis of this skyline has pointed out two types of high-rise buildings.
The assessment wants to emphasize the specific aspects of each building type. On the one hand, it indicates the areas that could potentially be taken into consideration for the construction of high-rise buildings with regional dimension; their localization meets a structuring spatial vision, which is partly determined by the views and metropolitan perspectives. On the other hand, it wants to add a ‘local dimension’to the development of high-rise building projects (but without localizing them) by elaborating a quality matrix allowing to evaluate the localization and integration relevance of this kind of projects. This matrix can be used by both the authorities and the project managers.

Finally, the study describes how the intentions of the note can be legally translated within the context of The Regional Plan of Sustainable Development, the Regional Urban Regulations and the Brussels’ Code for Town Planning.

High-rise vision note Brussels
High-rise vision note Brussels
High-rise vision note Brussels
Code
BHN
Client
Brussels Capital Region
Team
BUUR
Status
Mission accomplished