New face of Josaphat wasteland unveiled

The new face of Josaphat wasteland, between Schaerbeek and Evere, has just been unveiled by Gilles Delforge, director of Brussels Urban Development Company (SAU.brussels), owner of the land. He presented the outlines of the first phase of urbanization of the site of the former Josaphat marshalling station and its surroundings. He was supported by the Eiffage/Axa Belgium consortium, surrounded by a multidisciplinary design team.

Gilles Delforge says: “The result is qualitative both architecturally and environmentally and balanced in terms of housing types, balance between construction and nature preservation. The current wasteland and the wooded embankment west of the railway together represent an area of 10.6 hectares. The urbanized area of the new district will only occupy a third of this surface.”

Within a continuous green space of around 1.5 hectares 509 housings will be built: 246 private units, 135 for social rental units to be managed by the SLRB, 105 medium-sized housing units coordinated by citydev.brussels and 23 social units for acquisition regulated by the Fonds du logement . In addition to the important housing program, the project integrates shops, economic activities and a but also friendly spaces to host meetings and events between residents.

Christophe Van Ophem, the president of Eiffage Benelux, commented the ambitious environmental objectives in regards with the climate change urgencies "In a preserved environment , the project will be low-carbon, sustainable and very water-efficient. During the construction site, a circular approach will in particular avoid the emission of more than 8,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. “

At the end of 2017 a selection process started to choose the stakeholders for this large urban development. The winners have now been unveiled. They have been selected by the boards of directors of the SAU, citydev.brussels, the Société du Logement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (SLRB) and the Fonds du Logement.

The design will be coordinated by a joint team made up of A2RC Architects, Karbon’ architecture et urbanisme, Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen, R²D² Architectes, WALD, Biotope, Concepto, Indigo, TVK, Up and Cie, Urban Water and VK Engineers +architects .