Mixed-use conversion retail and housing in Walhain

In Walhain, in the Walloon Brabant province, this mixed-use development project combines the demolition of obsolete warehouses with the reconstruction of a compact building accommodating both commercial spaces and residential units on a formerly industrial and commercial site. Designed by the Belgian architecture firm STARC, the project achieves a comprehensive requalification of the plot, replacing buildings devoid of architectural quality with a multi-storey volume set back from the street, creating a considered transition sequence between the public realm and the new built fabric.

The volumetric approach favours compactness and overall coherence. The lateral facade receives the most detailed architectural treatment: a regular rhythm of slender vertical metal uprights organises the fenestration and supports metal trellis panels intended to be gradually colonised by climbing plants. This device introduces an evolving materiality in which light-coloured tile cladding and darker horizontal bands progressively engage in dialogue with the vegetal texture, softening the strictly technical reading of the building envelope.

The green facade fulfils a dual architectural and urban role: it modulates the perception of the building's scale from the exterior and grounds the project within its verdant surroundings. The balance sought between constructive sobriety and the sensory presence of vegetation as a full compositional material gives this mixed-use building a distinctive identity, anchored in the landscape character of Walhain and the ambitions of a carefully considered urban regeneration.

#architect #Walhain #WalloonBrabant #mixedUse #greenFacade #urbanRegeneration #residentialArchitecture #STARC