Brussels: Gendarmerie barracks turn into housing buildings

2024-10-19 19:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

When in 1906 in Brussels, 27 barracks for the gendarmerie were built on the boulevard "Générale Jacques" - where the police officers of the time were trained and operated - the high walls and the fence did not allow any of the city's residents to even see what was happening inside. A century later, few would have thought that you would be able to live or spend your university years in these buildings.

About 56,000 square meters that once served the gendarmerie and later the Belgian police, have completely passed to the residents and students of Brussels, who face most of the time expensive rents or the daily 'struggle' to find a home. .

From barracks, to apartments and dormitories

Found in this situation and facing rapid social, economic and environmental changes, the Brussels region took over this property in 2018. But the transformation came from the collaboration of two prestigious Belgian universities: "Université Libre de Bruxelles" and "Vrije Universiteit Brussel ", who, supported by a grant of about 12 million euros from the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD), were able to transform the "Usquare" complex into a very effective combination between the academic world and the urban space. "The program has supported the initiatives that contribute to the improvement of 'urban metabolism', in line with the European Union's strategy on sustainable urban development" – says Quentin Richard, EFRD representative.

The main investment of the project was completed in February of this year, but the complex is still being worked on and new residents will "occupy" the much-desired apartments. 70% of the families that will be accommodated in this complex will benefit from housing services social and 30% will be able to rent other facilities, while about 460 rooms are planned for students.

Bruno Allardin, urban planner and architect, project manager from the Urban Development Corporation, explains that "Usquare" serves as a complex of social housing and apartments, an education center and a research center for autism, entrepreneurship and innovation, in addition to academic space. "Usquare is bringing back the liveliness and warmth of this neighborhood. He improved the heritage sites and strengthened the circular energy strategy" - says Allardin.

"We recycled the bricks, the windows, the doors... Most of it is recycling" - says geographer Benjamin Wayens, also the scientific coordinator for "Usquare" from the "Université Libre de Bruxelles", who emphasizes that all this work took time and it's not over yet, precisely because "it took more time and energy to recycle than it would have taken to tear down the walls and start over". Also, adaptation to climate change has made the transformation include the installation of solar panels, the central cooling system and a new heating network. Businesses that help farmers

Francois Viellevoye was part of an organic produce chain before she opened her business full of colors and wonderful autumnal scents in the Usquare complex. She didn't like the big supermarkets "suffocating" small local producers. And one day, as the whole world faced the pandemic and isolation, she decided to come up with an idea and a year later to open her small business "Pedaló" in Brussels and help the farmers of the surrounding areas. the gendarmerie barracks seemed the ideal place to start over.

"The original idea was to have another choice, apart from the big supermarkets, and to have fresh fruit and vegetables directly from the producers. We don't negotiate the price with them because we don't want to put pressure on them and we want they take the power back" - says Francoise.

She is just one of the small entrepreneurs who are playing an essential role in the transformation of this new urban center. A few meters away, workers are preparing another market that will meet the needs of the new residents, which is being erected right where the gendarmerie horse training arena was a century ago.

Because just like preserving heritage and the circular economy, sustainable food and reducing food waste is another healthy ambition of the newest Brussels complex./ DW