

On a relatively challenging corner site in the Brussels Northern Quarter, a new social housing project was realized. Horizontal corridors were avoided by providing multiple stairwells, allowing the apartments to interlock efficiently across different levels and floor passes. Thoughtful visual and physical connections were also created toward the shared internal courtyard. Structurally, the project was resolved using wide-span concrete slabs supported on silicate brick walls. Because the grid lines of the underground parking garage are wider than those of the overlying building, the load transfer was achieved using a grid of cast-in-place concrete beams above the basement level. At the prominent corner of the building block, the upper floors cantilever over the ground floor to maximize the openness of the retail space below.