Why in the city centre of Brussels? Although the brief provided by the Master Class specified that the site was to include a CDU, we wanted to understand why. It may be criticised that the location within the city centre could be used for an alternate ‘Urban’ activity, however part of our process was to highlight and identify the potential based on existing programme and location. The industrial area of Batelage is currently an isolated island in-between two neighbourhoods of the city of Brussels. By introducing a large-scale Urban Distribution Centre within the industrial site, a new identity and urban role is defined for the site establishing it’s importance in the context of the city of Brussels. As highlighted on page 30 there is a significant amount of economic activity which functions on a day to day cycle supplying the city independently. The overall size of the site is 1000m x 4000m (approx), with a residual land area of 50%. Our strategy was to work with existing buildings within the area of focus and to establish a programme or ‘campus’ which would minimise impact and also highlight the ability to work with existing and proposed transport networks to supply the city sustainably through consolidation of the distribution process.
CDU and Nearby Surroundings, establishing relationships with the exisitng context
Notes: * Numbers based on statistics provided within the package CONTESTED PERIPHERIES | 36