Stib Marconi, Brussels

Winner of an architecture competition held by STIB in early 2008, our project has gained praise for its architectural solutions and for the quality of its blending-in with the urban context. The project was awarded the Golden Rules of Urbanism prize by the Brussels Federation of Urbanism in 2019.

The site includes several buildings of the Marconi tram depot, as well as all urban design and landscaping connected to the green promenade which was developed by the STIB in collaboration with the IBGE. The different functions are implanted in such a way that they do not interfere with each other but can still work together, and the level of technical requirements was very high.

The tram storage building is positioned along Ruisbroek road. The openwork wooden cladding of the facade grants transparency, rhythm and lightness to the building, and allows for the activities of the STIB and the trams to be visible from the public space, and vice versa. The administrative and social building regrouping all services such as locker rooms, sanitary facilities, break rooms, restaurant and meeting rooms, strategically occupies the center of the site. The maintenance building is located at the rear of the site ; its curved shape allows trams to access the building from two sides and articulates harmoniously with the more organic forms of the green promenade.

The neighboring residential area is acoustically protected by an anti-noise barrier made of natural stone gabions, while the architecture of each building is adapted to its immediate urban surroundings. The environmental component of the mixed-use permit application included a report detailing the impacts on vibration, noise levels and mobility. The project has been selected for the European sustainable development program « Tramstore21 » and is certified BREAAM Very Good.