Usquare.brussels, circular renovation of former barracks into university district

The first site to kick off the project is the renovation of seven buildings at the front of boulevard Général Jacques. This 9,000 m² university centre for the VUB and ULB must exude international appeal. The former gendarmerie stables will be repurposed as a 1,600 m² market hall for sustainable food. The construction outline plan was created by BUUR, part of Sweco, with a good balance between maximising the preservation of the intrinsic qualities of the site and its heritage, on the one hand, and ensuring openness and integration into the neighbourhood, on the other.

Circular material (re)use

Usquare.brussels is a circular renovation project that captures the imagination. Not a single brick will be lost thanks to maximum reuse of building materials. Walls that still need to be demolished first will be rebuilt with the same bricks.

Materials from other building layers are also reused, such as brickwork, radiators, sanitary appliances, and parquet. In addition, the design focuses on organic materials, such as shell cases for foundations, terrazzo floors with recovered granulates, clay plaster walls as timber frames for new wings.

The reduction of energy consumption was also reviewed. ‘Light as a service’ provides both reused fittings from the site and new ones. There will also be a new heating network, which will heat the VUB’s buildings.

Existing structure gets an extension on life

The design is heavily guided by the existing buildings and circular ambitions. This determines what is possible in terms of the programme and layout. Additions, such as an intermediate building, are provided in timber frame. The residential spaces will have a mezzanine in timber construction that can be disassembled. The principle of living boxes is applied, and new interventions are easily reassembled and integrate all services according to the served-servant concept.

Usquare.brussels is a practical example of how circularity can be achieved in a renovation project today: increasing the value of existing buildings through circular interventions, and letting new buildings act as tomorrow’s material sources. The overall energy strategy of the approximately 20 existing and future buildings on the 3.85-hectare site was developed by Sweco. VK architects+engineers, part of Sweco, is responsible for the techniques, stability, sustainable design, and acoustics studies.

• Client: VUB, ULB SAU
• RPA Master Plan: BUUR, part of Sweco, Idea Consult, CSTC, Equal
• Designer(s): EVR Architects, BC Materials & Studies, Callebaut Architects
• Overall energy strategy: Sweco
• Engineering firm(s): VK architects+engineers, part of Sweco
• Main contractor(s): BPC – Bâtiment et Ponts Construction