Gare Maritime, once Europe’s largest railway station for goods on the Tour & Taxis site in Brussels, has been transformed into a covered city with a mixed program of working and shopping and plenty of public space to relax. Under impressive steel roofs Neutelings Riedijk Architects designed the new Gare Maritime as a city district; ‘a city where it never rains’.

Public gardens and squares
The old station from the beginning of the 20th centuryconsists of three larger and four smaller halls. Under the existingroofsof the side aisles, twelve new pavilions have been addedto accommodate the new program. Theycreate a new structure of boulevards and street, gardens and squares, that follows the existing urban context and the buildingstructure in a natural way, like a true city.

The central space in the heart of the building has been kept open for public events. It has a pleasantclimatewhich follows the changing of the seasons. Inspired by the ‘Ramblas’, on both sides of the event space a green walking boulevard is created. The16 meters wide pedestrian routes give enough roomforspacious inner gardens, with a hundred large trees. Gare Maritime counts a total of ten gardens based on four themes: the woodland garden, the flower garden, the grass garden and the fragrance garden. For the squares, Brussels visual artist Henri Jacobs designed eight mosaics.

Largest CLT-project in Europe
The new pavilions have been constructedin Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), with an enormous reduction in the amount of cement as a result. The choice forwood also had a favorable effect on the construction process: thanks to prefabrication and the dry constructing method, the construction time was considerably shorter.

State-of-the-art in sustainability
Gare Maritime is entirely energy neutral and fossil free. The glass facades on Picardstreet are provided with solar cells. On the roofs a total area of ​​17,000 m2 of solar panels has been installed. At all levels far-reaching sustainability measures have been implemented, such as use of geothermal energy and reuse of rainwater. Gare Maritime is an important contribution to the sustainable development of the Tour & Taxis site and the Kanaalzone in Brussels.

This project was commissioned by Extensa and realized in cooperation with Bureau Bouwtechniek, Ney & partners, Boydens engineering and OMGEVING. In the first phase, the existing historic building was carefully restored by Jan de Moffarts Architects, Bureau Bouwtechniek, Ney & Partners and Boydens.

Team:
Client: Extensa Group
Architect: Neutelings Riedijk Architects, i.c.w. Bureau Bouwtechniek
Architectural design: Neutelings Riedijk Architects
Architectural design team: Michiel Riedijk, Willem Jan Neutelings, Dieter de Vos, Kenny Tang, Alejandro Mosquera Garcia, Alexey Boev, Anselmo Nižić, Frank Venhorst, Pietro Manara
Architectural engineering: Bureau Bouwtechniek
Civil and structural engineering (renovation): Ney & Partners BXL
Civil and structural engineering (new pavillions): Ney & Partners WOW
MEP: Boydens engineering, Brugge
Building physics: Boydens engineering, Brugge
Landscape architect: OMGEVING, Antwerpen
Restoration architect: Jan de Moffarts, i.c.w. Bureau Bouwtechniek
Interior designer: Neutelings Riedijk Architects     
Artist: Henri Jacobs
Cost consultant: Bureau Bouwtechniek
Acoustics: Venac, Brussel
Fire safety: FPC Risk, Antwerpen
Main contractor: MBG
Wood contractor: Züblin
Installations contractor: Cegelec, VMA, NTSA, Van Hoey, IFTech
Project coordination, safety manager: Bopro
Photography: Filip Dujardin / Sarah Blee / Tim Fisher
Drawings: Neutelings Riedijk Architects / Bureau Bouwtechniek / Ney & Partners / Omgeving

In the 1900s, Brussels’ Gare Maritime was a freight station. It is part of the Tour & Taxis site in Brussels, which used to be one of the world’s largest rail and river hubs for freight transport. 
After it was bought by the developer Extensa in 2015, around 45,000 m² of former industrial buildings were renovated and transformed into a multifunction office and retail complex with events facilities.

The original metal framework of the buildings was conserved, together with the large windows. To avoid the buildings turning into hothouses due to the sun’s rays on the glazing, exterior ZIP roller blinds, custom-made by our customer Renson, were installed. To harmonise the whole façade and preserve the view outdoors, Extensa wanted the blinds to be large. 

The Satiné 5500 fabric, in colour 0701 Pearl Grey (1,750 m² of fabric in total), was chosen for its exceptional performance qualities:

- thermal performance: placed outside, the fabric blocks the sun’s rays before they reach the glazing, avoiding heating the interior of the building. It rejects 94% of the sun’s energy. 

- optical performance: the diagonal weave of the satin fabric gives it excellent glare control while optimising the amount of natural light entering the building.  Its unrivalled transparency provides a clear view outside.

- mechanical performance: even in large dimensions (some blinds measure 6 m x 6 m), the fabric remains perfectly flat due to its excellent dimensional stability. It is also very resistant to bad weather, including strong winds.

The Gare Maritime is an energy-neutral building thanks to the technical equipment installed: geothermal energy, solar panels, exterior blinds etc.

The project demonstrates once again that sun protection plays an essential role in improving a building’s energy efficiency by controlling the amount of solar energy it absorbs. It reduces the energy consumption associated with lighting, air conditioning and heating.