Mobilis

The client for this building is a car import and dealer company that is fully aware of the deep change and uncertainty the automotive sector will be facing. To put it mildly, electric cars need less maintenance, showrooms are being replaced by websites, and the sharing economy is taking over ownership in favour of mobility as a service. Despite this, a very large car workshop and showrooms for different brands are still part of the programme, as are a series of productive spaces that will complement the nature of this dynamic neighbourhood situated along the Brussels Canal.

What is needed here is not so much a building that can be endlessly adapted to new uses, but a structure that can accommodate any activity; a building type in which landscape, urban density, logistics and architecture merge into one is therefore proposed. On the inside is a rational, high-load bearing concrete structure with 16.2 meters floor spans and a height of 7 meters, to which, if needed, intermediate steel floors can be hung. On the outside, on the other hand, the sturdiness of the structure is balanced out by the curvy, transparent façades (glass on the south-east side, steel cables and mesh on the north-west side), resulting from the movements of cars and trucks on site, the bending of the main road and the amorphous boundary of the plot.

A series of patios and atriums ultimately pierce the large volume, providing the space and quiet that are lacking on the outside.

Xaveer de Geyter,
Lead Architect & Founder

Architecture
XDGA

Client
Private

Year of completion
2024

Location
Brussels, Belgium

Total area
27.821 m2

Site area
10.400 m2

Photos
Maxime Delvaux, Marco Cappelletti, XDGA; Matthias van Rossen

Structural Engineer: Util Struktuurstudies
Technical Engineer: Studiebureau Boydens
Acoustics: Daidalos Peutz bouwfysisch ingenieursbureau