RVW’s proposal ‘How and what space do we create for a solidarity-based super-diverse neighbourhood city and its most vulnerable inhabitants?’, has been selected as one of the three projects for the BMA Label by the Brussels Government Architect (bouwmeester maître architecte).
For quite some time now, we have been witnessing a reception crisis in Brussels. A growing number of homeless and unhoused people are living in precarious conditions. The urgency to rethink and provide appropriate public facilities is extremely high – especially for those who need them most but are denied access. Ruimteveldwerk (RVW) is therefore seeking out facilities and spaces that can offer structural solutions. These ‘places of solidarity’ can relieve the pressure on public space and provide an essential addition to existing services.
The humanitarian HUB on the Havenlaan is a unique, large-scale initiative that is freely and unconditionally accessible. It combines a day centre with a canteen and various support services. Visitors in precarious situations can access basic amenities, rest, and receive guidance. The HUB – housed in a former car garage – was established in response to a humanitarian emergency, but its future remains uncertain. Temporary funding and the planned redevelopment of the building by the Brussels Region hinder its long-term sustainability.
Yet sustainable anchoring is essential. The HUB must evolve from an emergency response into a permanent facility: a fixed part of the city’s infrastructure, embedded within a broader support network. It must be a safe, accessible environment where trust can grow and social bonds can form – a stepping stone toward further guidance and orientation.
As part of the research project ‘Places of solidarity in public space’ commissioned by the Flemish Government Architect, RVW and its partners mapped the user groups and design challenges of such spaces. At the HUB, small-scale trial-and-error interventions have already been tested in collaboration with visitors, volunteers, and care providers. However, there is also a pressing need for a long-term vision, with structural interventions on the scale of both the building and the city.
The development of a master plan was a logical next step. Since NGOs often lack the resources to take this on themselves, RVW, with support from the BMA-label, developed a proposal. This resulted in a ‘program of requirements’, published by BMA as part of a ‘Call for Clients’. The brief includes both the ‘hardware’ – presented as a graphical schema of functions, surface areas, and circulation flows – and the ‘software’ – background information for each spatial scale (city, neighbourhood, building, interior).
The building blocks are in place. By defining a clear program of requirements, a new foundation has been laid for the search for a permanent location for the HUB in collaboration with public authorities. In addition, this (spatial) research can generate innovative and policy-relevant ideas for high-quality and essential facilities – tailored to the Brussels context and accessible to its most vulnerable groups.
The combination of various services and the collaboration between different organizations and volunteers make the HUB unique. Bringing these services together with the day centre within the HUB enables the building of trust with the vulnerable public and facilitates contact.
There are four modules:
– Pink: the staff area, clearly separated from the visitor area
– Purple: the ticket zone with specific, limited-capacity services accessible only with a pre-obtained ticket
– Green: the day centre for 450 visitors and a cafeteria for food distribution serving 600 visitors
– Yellow: the logistics zone, primarily used for food and clothing supply storage
– Light green: Both the day centre and the logistics zone each have their own outdoor space.
BMA Label #2 in the News:
bouwmeester maître architecte: Call for clients: creation of a humanitarian HUB (NL, EN, FR)
A+313 Parallel Practices: Instrumenten voor engagement en experiment / Instrument d’implication et d’expérimentation (NL, FR)
More about the BMA Label: