Typology	Territorial Practices
Program	Public Space
Location	BE Brussels
Year	2025
Status	Proposal
Selection Process	Competition
Partner Office	LABEL, JZH & Partners, LCTS, ASM, Securisan
Team	Julien Deloffre, Jan Geks, Tom Quin

Bizet

: Masterplan

The proposed masterplan for the Bizet site delivers a coherent, pragmatic, and fully engaged response to the brief, aiming to consolidate the positive dynamics initiated by the temporary occupation of Bizet Bizarre. Through a careful analysis of the urban context, programmatic requirements, and technical and budgetary constraints, the project defines a compact and exemplary urban block that integrates the three pillars of sustainable development: social, economic, and environmental. Two mixed-use buildings are positioned along the street front, respecting the constraints of the underground STIB tunnel, while freeing a generous landscaped courtyard at the heart of the site. Phase 1 consolidates social housing, transit accommodations for victims of violence, a community center, and a polyvalent sports hall, while Phase 2 introduces a daycare and additional socially-oriented housing, all designed to operate autonomously yet harmoniously within the larger masterplan.

The volumetry is carefully articulated to achieve a smooth transition between the street and the inner courtyard, cascading from R+3 along the public road to single-story volumes facing the landscaped heart. This gradation preserves the scale of the surrounding residential fabric while defining clear and legible public spaces. A new parvis and a 2,600 m² central park form the core of the project, offering multifunctional, accessible, and secure outdoor areas, enhanced by layered vegetation, fruit trees, and native plantings that reinforce biodiversity and ecological continuity. The design of circulation, from the parvis to the planted promenade connecting Rue Félicien Rops and the stadium, ensures fluid pedestrian and cyclist movement, while retaining visual permeability, safety, and inclusivity for all users.

The project emphasizes inclusivity and active community participation. Participatory workshops engage residents, local associations, and future users in co-designing the public realm, programming, and identity of the site, including naming the new parvis and park with a focus on representation of women in public space. Practical and flexible public amenities, such as open-air sports areas, accessible seating, non-gendered restrooms, and adaptable covered structures, support a wide variety of uses and events. Water management is carefully integrated through permeable surfaces, vegetated swales, and rainwater harvesting, while the planting strategy fosters sensory, environmental, and social benefits. Overall, the masterplan balances human, environmental, and programmatic needs to create a sustainable, lively, and socially inclusive urban quarter rooted in the local context.

Read less