Reine

Sitting at the intersection of the rues Royale and de Beughem, the plot occupies a strategic urban position : on one hand, a wide boulevard heavy in traffic lined with buildings of various functions, giving way to a symmetrical square around the Sainte Marie Church … and on the other hand, a very narrow side-street mostly composed of housing and offering relative calm. Facing the Church, the project discretely articulates these two perspectives.

Student flats in the quieter rue de Beughem are distributed by a sun-filled courtyard, used as a semi-public extension of their private living quarters. Office space on the boulevard occupies the patrician houses, with the formal grandeur of their main rooms providing adequate prestige.

These diverse functions are integrated by using a common architectural code, creating see-through but clear divisions between public and private spaces. All entrances, whether pedestrian or vehicular, are grouped together in shared passageways where occupants meet, and connect with new panoramas with the Sainte Marie Church or the rue Royale.

Dominant use of white patina eases the project into the neo-classic landscape of the Place de la Reine. Window frames and ground-floor cladding are in black heavy-duty tread-plate, adding character. Design emphasizes the sought-after contemporary dialogue between the vertical rhythms of old and new … the long, tall bow-window for example on the corner intensifies this dialogue, announcing the end (or beginning ?) of the rue Royale.