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Cigarette factory in Brussels converted into city hall by trio of Belgian architects
This red brick building that once formed part of a cigarette factory in Brussels has been converted into a council office with minimalist interiors by Stéphanie Willox, LD2 Architecture and Mamout.
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The trio of Brussels-based architects was asked to overhaul the former industrial space on Charles Malis Street for the city's Molenbeek-Saint-Jean municipality.
Behind its ornamental brick facade, the 990-square-metre space has been stripped back to reveal its concrete structure.
The building, which comprises a gabled entrance adjoining a two-storey rectilinear block, now hosts 12 advice counters, as well as administration offices and a waiting room.
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"The proposal takes advantage of the existing situation by inserting the program in a fluid and logical disposal into the structure, without degrading it," explained Stéphanie Willox, Mamout and LD2 Architecture.
"The shed-shaped volume becomes logically the new public entrance, making its public function evident from the street, while the horizontal volume accommodates the counters and the offices on two levels."
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White tables, railings and a spiralling staircase draw attention to the ageing concrete beams and columns, and to the grey paved floor.
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Tables and counters are lined up with the concrete structure to give the space a neat and regimented appearance. Black numbers printed on screens in front of the counters stand out in the light-toned space.
"The counters are organised in a repetitive way, aligned with the concrete beams," said the architects. "They offer room and storage for an effective treatment of the citizen requests."
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Upstairs, a pale wood partition separates the offices from stairwells, which are surrounded by white mesh balustrades. A space for informal meetings is set in between the offices to create "an efficient but yet convivial way of working".
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Following a similar open-plan approach, Spanish architects SelgasCano recently converted the upper floor of Lisbon's oldest market hall into a co-working space for the office provider Second Home.
Industrial spaces are increasingly being co-opted as offices as workplace design shifts away from providing staff with self-contained cubicles towards open-planned and flexible workspaces.
Photography is by Studio Fiftyfifty.
Project credits:
Architects: LD2 architecture, Stéphanie Willox, Mamout
Owner: Municipality of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean
Structure: MOBAT Engineering
Techniques: GTD Engineering
Construction company: Gillion Construct