“Attractive living spaces that perfectly match the lifestyle of young urban people at an astonishingly low price” – Holcim Awards Jury

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    Project entry 2008 Europe - "Low-cost residence on industrial site, Ghent, Belgium": Moveable unit.

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    Holcim Awards Acknowledgment prize 2008 Europe (l-r): Lore De Baere, Edward Weysen

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    Holcim Awards Acknowledgment prize 2008 Europe (l-r): Hansjürg Leibundgut, Lore De Baere, Edward Weysen

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    Holcim Awards Acknowledgment prize 2008 Europe (l-r): Hansjürg Leibundgut, Lore De Baere, Edward Weysen

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    Holcim Awards Acknowledgment prize 2008 Europe (l-r): Hansjürg Leibundgut, Lore De Baere, Edward Weysen

The revival of abandoned industrial sites is not only an important issue in the old docks of Ghent but in many other cities that are stricken by a sharply diminishing secondary economic sector. Usually such empty spaces are taken over by artists, small businesses and informal occupants for temporary use. The uniqueness of this project consists in the transformation of these huge multi-floor warehouses into modern, very flexible but at the same time highly-affordable housing units.

Last updated: June 26, 2008

The creative design team developed a box-in-a-box solution by inserting a mostly prefabricated box-like unit with a floor area of 3.5 to 18 square meters. The structure is very light and all the services are concentrated in a central functional block containing kitchen, shower and lavatory. During summer the fully glazed west façade of the boxes will be opened to have the old barn becoming part of the living space and during the winter the very compact and well-insulated boxes need only little energy for heating. The outstanding result provides very attractive living spaces that perfectly match the lifestyle of young urban people at an astonishingly low price.