Marie-Curie

Rehabilitation of a former office building into 186 emergency housing units

The Marie-Curie project is part of a search for accommodation for Ukrainian refugees in the Brussels region. Several options are being explored by our studio: conversion of empty former office buildings, former hotels and greenfield sites for temporary accommodation. The reference presented here is a wonderful example of how this research has come to fruition.

Marie-Curie involves transforming a former office building from the 1990s into a temporary accommodation center for 186 Ukrainian refugees, in a context of humanitarian emergency, tight deadlines and a severely limited budget.

The former office building, located on the outskirts of Anderlecht, was reinvested with maximum economy of means, where optimization of the existing and reuse guided the architectural interventions. Spatial redistribution is based on a mix of accommodation typologies, offering rooms from 1 to 6 beds, adapted to the diversity of the public welcomed (single people, families, women with children, the elderly).

The interior layout favors the appropriation of the spaces by the refugees and staff of the asbl Communa, striking the right balance between intimacy and community. Each floor groups a series of rooms around generous, modular communal spaces: shared kitchens, common dining rooms, recreation areas. These numerous small communal spaces enable small groups of residents to get together and bond. On the first floor, large indoor and outdoor community spaces (refectory, party room, sports hall, administrative offices, communal vegetable gardens, etc.) structure the life of the center, affirming the project as a place of transition and social reconstruction.

These issues of living together have taken root at Marie-Curie, and have also served to support initiatives by the residents: setting up discussion workshops, artistic interventions and a beauty center within the project !