Ghent's new Bijgaardehof complex completes a collaborative vision of social housing and city life

2022-06-27T13:26:00-04:00

A transformed brownfield site in Ghent’s historic central core has been revealed, showcasing BOGDAN & VAN BROECK’s vision for a “world in itself” set amongst industrial ruins and characterized by what it calls “lockdown-compatible” living.

The factory building had sat unoccupied since 1997 before being acquired by developer sogent, who organized an international competition for the redesign project in 2009. The new cohousing project that resulted includes some 59 residential units, a network of landscaped communal gathering areas, and a health center in what is said to match a number of criteria central to the practice’s core mission to “offer a higher quality of life at an affordable cost.”

Per the architects: “The starting point for the design of Bijgaardehof was the triangular footprint of the industrial site. The perimeter walls form a simple and strong figure that defines the boundary between 'the wor...

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Ghent's new Bijgaardehof complex completes a collaborative vision of social housing and city life