Atelier Kempe Thill

Atelier Kempe Thill and architectesassoc⁺ won the competition for “Dames Blanches”, a new large scale housing estate for the SLRB / BGHM public housing corporation of Brussels. Situated in Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, it lays on the Southern edge of the Brussels agglomeration. The low-rise high-density project consists in more than 200 apartments spread over 8 different buildings standing on approximately a 25.000 m2 gross surface. The several apartment blocks on parking garages and other terraced houses combine housing, a day care, elderly housing and a small community center. Landscape architect Bas Smets has embedded the project in a new ecological-driven landscape. All housings which can be accessed from the ground floor have a private garden. The life in this new neighborhood is meant to be respectful of the individuals, the families and the environment. The whole team works to maximize the use of alternative construction methods and biobased materials. The terraced houses are planned as wooden construction and the neighborhood center is designed in rammed earth. Sustainability lays also in the flexibility of the project. For instance, the parking garage will be set up in order to be easily adapted to different kind of use if needed in the future.