As one of the three main LafargeHolcim Awards winners for Europe in 2017, “Logistics Framework” automatically qualified as a finalist in the Global LafargeHolcim Awards 2018. All 15 finalist project teams were asked to submit an updated and more comprehensive entry that was evaluated by a global jury in March 2018.

View project entry posters – Global Holcim Awards

The results of the global phase of the 5th LafargeHolcim Awards competition were announced on March 28, 2018.

Read full media release – Global LafargeHolcim Awards 2018

“In Brussels, urban development also means keeping production in the city center,” explained Kristiaan Borret, City Architect of the Belgian capital. Instead of moving existing facilities to the outskirts, they are integrated into the developing neighborhoods. Two projects of the Brussels Canal District masterplan received international recognition in 2017 by winning the 5th LafargeHolcim Awards in Europe.

The days when the sustainability of a construction project was a matter of ad hoc measures are over – sustainable construction has become systematic and specific. This was emphatically shown by the results of the Holcim Awards in region Europe: The first prize was shared by two projects in Brussels, both of which excel in terms of their multi-functionality.

As declared by the architects, the project – located along the Willebroek Canal in a fast-growing district of Brussels – has to satisfy the particular current needs of a waste collection company, while simultaneously being able to adapt to changing future circumstances. Addressing this double agenda, the project proposes a carefully designed framework that is both specific and general. Whereas its specificity pertains to the building’s integration in the urban fabric (establishing a green corridor between a residential neighborhood, a small park, a new courtyard, and a canal), its structure is functionally indeterminate, allowing the building to transform in time according to future needs. Its present function as a logistics hub for a garbage company stages its daily activities in the midst of a vibrant neighborhood, foregrounding the co-dependence among seemingly incompatible functions in the city.

A good city has logistics: a driving force for a healthy urban metabolism

The evacuation of garbage is part of the elementary flows that make a city operative. As a logistic activity it is often considered a source of nuisance and incomprehension. However, the role of logistics and industry is vital to sustaining the success of the city’s economy. Their proximity is indispensable for efficient operation and transport. The project area has to overcome the apparent contradiction between city and logistics, between the residential area Neder-Over-Heembeek and the logistic veins of Chaussée de Vilvorde and the canal. The latter offers the city a spectacle of logistics. Showing incoming and outgoing vehicles, parking, washing and inspection areas, NET Brussel takes part in the urban theatre. Showing the activity also improves social inclusion in the city.