#Product Trends
UNStudio completes mixed-use le toison d'or development in brussels
dutch firm UNStudio has completed its first project in belgium, a mixed-use scheme located on brussels’ avenue de la toison d’or.
conceived as a hybridization of a traditional building-block typology and a mixed-use development with podium, the project combines a retail and residential program. planned in collaboration with jaspers-eyers architects, le toison d’or contains 72 apartments, 13,000 square meters of commercial space, a 1,040 square meter crèche, 330 parking spaces, and an elevated city garden.
the building’s distinctive façade is visually fragmented through variations in texture, depth and rhythm. this ensures that the scheme avoids the monolithic qualities commonly associated with block structures. curved vertical frames serve to enclose the balconies of the apartments on the upper floors, while facilitating the large display windows of the retail units. the elevations surrounding the elevated courtyard garden follow a horizontal arrangement where generously proportioned balconies provide a more tranquil experience of city life.
apartment units vary in size from small to large, enabling a varied demographic of city residents. to ensure high levels of daylight, floor to ceiling heights reach at least 2.7 meters in all living areas. this height increases to more than 3 meters for the apartments situated along the avenue. open kitchens create informal entertainment spaces at the heart of the residences and determine circulation through the spaces.
from an environmental perspective, ‘le toison d’or’ has been developed with high standards of sustainability. thermic isolation is used for the building’s façade, while a high standard of acoustic insulation is used throughout. the project was announced in 2013, and has been in development since 2009. see designboom’s previous coverage of ‘le toison d’or’ here.
