By analysing the general urban context we came to the conclusion that the Delta project is situated in a larger whole and thus constitutes a small part of a complex urban puzzle. We tried to identify all the influencing factors concerning this entrance to Brussels in order to understand the impact of the undergoing or planned developments on the site. This search highlighted a complex urban situation undermined by an obsolete motorway dating from the 1970s that favours access to the city by car.
We therefore assumed that the Herman Debroux viaduct would eventually be replaced by a green urban boulevard linking the different parks in the area while providing easy access to soft mobility by drastically reducing urban car connections. The viaduct is currently acting as a car vacuum, giving too much access toward the city centre. This hypothesis can only be implemented in a more global vision of the city's entrances and must be accompanied by the possibility for the commuter to find other transportation alternatives, from their starting points and at the entrances to Brussels. We chose and developed an implantation proposal that best met our expectations regarding the user.
Our study was aimed towards the public and shared spaces in order to make living in the city meaningful while focusing on the individual. The objective was to bring the place back to a human scale and to create public spaces that meet to the expectations of such a project. This proposal meets our objectives for the user in terms of accessibility and quality of life, all while offering a new solution for the Delta intersection. The projects takes into account the sun’s orientation thus ensuring a low shading impact.
The project is articulated on the one hand by a new public space covering part of the railway lines, and on the other hand by a more traditional interior "island" comprising a garden that enhances the quality of the living space. The new public square proposes a new meeting point between the different districts that make up this puzzle and gives better access for the users to these districts.
This space allows you to change in part the project’s sense of heaviness by opting to turn the more public functions (hotel, shops, high-rise building) towards the new square and not towards the Boulevard du Triomphe where public spaces are difficult to live in due to the importance of the road axis.
The new square is adapted to the scale of the project and creates the necessary surrounding space for the implementation of a high-rise building and its functions. The orientation of this new space is much more favorable. Because it faces the south, the inhabitants will be able to enjoy a more pleasant and lively space. We questioned the usability and functionality of such a space, and after many trials we proposed a unitary mineral space enabling a large number of possible uses. Giving a multifunctional space (market, event, meeting point) invites users to take advantage of a new connection between the neighbourhoods.
