Louise de Cock, Angélique Henderickx, Esther Howet & Joëlle Klassen
Granny Square. ULG Liège (Belgium).
At the heart of a site marked by the history of modernist architecture, this project is located on the site formerly occupied by the two longest towers of the Droixhe residential complex in Liège, designed by the Egau office. The surrounding area is home to a wide variety of building types and sizes.
In response to this heritage, the project attempts to transcend the boundaries between inside and outside, between private and collective space, in order to create a bond in places conducive to community life. Thus, this architectural proposal unfolds in two distinct blocks, linked by a green alley, which strategically connects two parts of the context. This alley, designed for soft mobility, instills a dynamic of interconnection between the two buildings.
A dynamic, intergenerational programmatic mix organizes the two blocks. Both are composed of a base in which public functions can be found. The first floor features cafés, restaurants, a youth center, a multi-purpose hall, a variety of shops, a crèche and the University of the Third Age. One of the blocks has a parking garage on the ground floor (R+2). This frees the first floor from cars. This encourages the emergence of activities and interaction with adjacent streets and squares, the tramway and the park. The remainder of the first floor of the second block is dedicated to a vast 360-space bicycle parking facility. Above these plinths are volumes containing a total of 170 apartments of various types for the two blocks. They are accompanied by vast communal terraces that open onto the public space as balconies, thus encouraging encounters between residents - those inside and those outside. The project has been shaped around several concepts linked to the quality of life of residents, notably conviviality, soft mobility and the free appropriation of the proposed spaces.
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