Campus Deleers is Europe’s first building to bring education and urban production together under one roof. Located along Brussels’ canal, the project by SMAK Architects transforms a former industrial brownfield into a mixed-use neighborhood and demonstrates how Brussels’ vision of the Productive City can be realized.
The 26,000 m² campus provides education for 1,300 students while integrating a zone for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) beneath the school. The masterplan also introduces housing and a public promenade, creating a lively environment active throughout the day and evening.
The school is conceived as a “0–99 campus”: an inclusive place for learning, exchange and exchange across generations. It combines a primary school for approximately 500 pupils in the municipality of Anderlecht, a technical secondary school for more than 800 students within GO! education, and childcare facilities for over 50 children. Beyond school hours, the campus functions as shared civic infrastructure. The sports hall is available to local associations, while school spaces can host adult education, extending the campus’s role in the community.
At ground level, productive units bring manufacturing into the urban environment. The educational spaces are stacked above this active plinth, creating a direct relationship between learning and production. Workshops can be seen from classrooms, reinforcing the connection between technical education and real-world production.
The architecture is defined by clarity, robustness and adaptability. A clear functional layering places production below and learning and interaction above. Durable, low-maintenance materials are designed to withstand intensive use while allowing the building to adapt to future needs. Textured brickwork in tile bond is combined with concrete elements and precise detailing, creating a restrained façade. External galleries extend learning outdoors while providing passive solar shading.
SMAK uses the site’s five-metre level difference to organize the different functions clearly. The school is accessed from the neighborhood at ground level, while the SME units are independently reached from the canal side one level below. This creates a clear separation between the programs without compromising their visual connection.
Inside the school, teaching models are replaced by project-based learning. Rather than relying on traditional corridors, primary and secondary education are organized into 22 modular, atelier-like spaces connected by external circulation. Each unit benefits from dual-aspect natural light and can adapt to future uses. Moving between spaces outdoors encourages activity and well-being.
The wider development strengthens these connections. A public promenade forms a green and social spine, reconnecting the canal with the surrounding neighborhood. Together with the residential development currently under construction, it creates a renewed relationship between living, working and learning.
Environmental strategies support the project’s ambitions. Heat pumps reduce dependence on fossil fuels and operational carbon emissions, while natural mineral wool insulation and locally produced Belgian brick help limit embodied carbon and support regional supply chains.
Campus Deleers transforms a former industrial blind spot into a central neighborhood hub. By integrating education, production, housing and public space, the project demonstrates how different functions can coexist to create a more sustainable, adaptable and socially connected urban environment.
Following the Deleers project, SMAK is further exploring the potential of co-location. It has initiated and funded a European research project that maps existing practices and develops a guide for moving schools beyond their isolated and fenced position within the city. By combining educational facilities with residential or other programmes, the project investigates how architecture can create new forms of proximity, shared use and social interaction, fostering collective engagement in an increasingly individualised society.
